The battle for entry points in China's AI application market is nearing its end, with competition shifting from user scale expansion to high-frequency interaction and user retention. Entry points that offer independent service loops and system-level gateways capable of connecting service delivery are gradually gaining the upper hand. In September 2026, Doubao and DeepSeek led AI applications in average monthly usage count and duration per user, but their quarter-over-quarter trends diverged: Doubao's related metrics declined somewhat, while DeepSeek posted growth, with user activity continuing to rise. In the next stage, traffic investment and user scale expansion alone will no longer be sufficient to build long-term advantages; whether products can continuously meet user needs, increase interaction frequency, and complete service delivery will become the key to competition.