Tech giants such as Alibaba, Google, and Tencent have made substantial investments in the AI sector, yet they face challenges of high losses and low returns. In contrast, Meitu takes a different approach by focusing on niche AI areas like portrait retouching with a relatively small amount of capital. By concentrating resources, hosting studio challenges, and leveraging its accumulated user base, aesthetic data, and business ecosystem, Meitu has achieved dual growth in AI business revenue and the number of paying users, while maintaining high profit margins and a healthy cash flow. Meitu's success suggests that in the AI field, user and data assets accumulated through niche businesses may possess greater scarcity and profitability compared to general-purpose models.
