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AsianFin – While enthusiasm around video-generation AI models shows signs of waning, Chinese tech giant Kuaishou is doubling down on its ambitions.

During the company's Q4 and full-year 2024 earnings call, Kuaishou founder and CEO Cheng Yixiao revealed that Kling AI has become a foundational platform for AI-powered video creation, now ranking alongside Google's Veo 2 as a global leader, significantly outperforming domestic competitors.

Since launching commercially, Kling AI has generated over 100 million yuan (US$ 14 million) in cumulative revenue as of February 2025, establishing itself as China's top-performing video-generation AI in terms of monetization. Unlike many AI models still focused on experimentation, Kling AI prioritized revenue generation early on, reflecting Kuaishou's pragmatic approach to AI development.

Cheng emphasized that as AI technology matures, market cycles will inevitably fluctuate. Kuaishou's strategy centers on using AI to enhance existing businesses while creating a sustainable model where R&D investments generate measurable returns.

Technical Advancements and Market Traction

The platform, which entered open beta on June 6, 2023, has undergone more than 20 iterations. The latest version, Kling 1.6 (released in Q4 2023), delivers major improvements in semantic accuracy, visual quality, and motion dynamics. Internal tests show a 200% effectiveness boost in image-to-video conversion compared to version 1.5.

The platform now boasts an independent app and serves thousands of corporate clients globally, including Xiaomi and Amazon Web Services. Kuaishou has set a new goal for Kling AI to become the world's top video-generation AI by revenue.

Beyond video generation, Kuaishou's AI strategy encompasses its "Kuaiyi" language model and "ACT" recommendation architecture. These technologies are transforming content workflows, enabling automated understanding of videos, live streams, comments, and user preferences for more sophisticated recommendations.

AI is also driving Kuaishou's core advertising business, with online marketing revenue growing 20.1% to 72.4 billion yuan in 2024. The company's AI-powered marketing solutions now generate over 30 million yuan daily through AIGC content and virtual influencer streams. Kuaishou estimates AI can reduce marketing content production costs by 60-70% while creating new revenue streams.

The emergence of OpenAI's Sora in February 2023 sparked global interest in video-generation AI, but its delayed consumer launch created opportunities for domestic players. Kling AI, along with competitors like MiniMax's Conch AI and ByteDance's Jidream AI, has gained traction through user-friendly models and monetization strategies.

Kling AI's global user visits surged 113% month-over-month in January 2025, with strong overseas subion growth and high renewal rates. Cheng noted the platform is becoming a preferred tool for international AI creators and artists.

Looking ahead, Kuaishou plans significant R&D investments over the next three years to strengthen Kling AI's capabilities while exploring new AI-driven content opportunities. The company believes its technical advantages in video processing and synthetic data create substantial competitive barriers in this rapidly evolving field.

(Note: 1 USD equals 7.18 yuan)