As the Gaokao, China's national college entrance examination, concluded, major Chinese tech companies have begun launching AI agents to serve as college admissions consultants. With over 12.9 million students and their parents participating each year, these companies aim to dominate the competitive AI service market by attracting users to their platforms.
According to Chinese economic media outlet Caixin, Alibaba announced it would offer a comprehensive AI-based college admissions support service for free starting today.
This service is developed from eight years of admissions data accumulated by Alibaba's AI browser, Quark. It features three core functions: analysis reports on potential universities, management of admissions schedules, and a Q&A feature to assist throughout the college admissions process. This service effectively replaces professional admissions consulting services that typically cost around 5,000 yuan (approximately $110).
In addition to Alibaba, other major tech firms like Tencent and Baidu have also rolled out free AI-based college admissions support services. Since last year, these companies have focused on the college admissions consulting market, and competition has intensified this year with the introduction of AI agents.
The industry is keenly aware of the vast potential user base, as this year's Gaokao candidates reached 12.9 million. However, only about 5% of families utilize professional admissions consultants.
Most students must gather information and devise their own strategies for college admissions, indicating a strong demand for AI-based admissions assistant services. In fact, the rapid spread of AI agents in the admissions counseling sector has significantly impacted traditional consulting firms. According to market research firm iMedia, the paid college admissions consulting market in China was nearly 1.1 billion yuan (approximately $248.7 million) at the end of last year.
"Products that previously only provided basic Q&A have evolved into AI agents supporting the entire college admissions process this year," iMedia noted. "By offering free services, they are securing a core user base of parents and students while expanding into broader markets such as career planning and educational services."
This competition aligns with the rapid growth of China's AI service market. According to market research firm QuestMobile, as of March, the top five AI apps by monthly active users in China were Douyin (ByteDance), Qianwen (Alibaba), DeepSeek, Yuanbao (Tencent), and Apu (Ant Group).
The number of monthly active users for AI apps in China reached 460 million, with an average of 91 uses per user per month and an average usage time of 180 minutes, all hitting record highs. Notably, in April, the usage rate of AI apps among education and learning users reached 47.4%. As the education sector emerges as a new battleground for AI services, competition among tech giants for the 10 million-strong admissions market is expected to intensify.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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