China is surging ahead of the US in consumer AI adoption as technology giants like Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding embed artificial intelligence directly into popular everyday apps, even as American models lead in capability, according to Morgan Stanley.
A survey conducted by the bank and published in a report on Monday showed that 80 per cent of Chinese respondents used AI for personal purposes at least weekly, compared with 54 per cent in the US.
China’s generative AI user base grew from about 249 million in December 2024 to 602 million in December 2025, scaling significantly faster than mobile internet adoption did over a comparable period, the report said.
While basic access to AI remained free in both nations, China’s advantage stemmed from distributing services through everyday platforms tailored to local consumer habits, rather than holding an edge in frontier model benchmark performance, Morgan Stanley noted.