Volcano Engine, the cloud computing unit of Chinese tech giant ByteDance, said on Monday it has secured an “exclusive AI cloud partnership” with the Spring Festival Gala – a marquee slot that underlines the company’s ambition to turn its artificial intelligence cloud business into a national-scale platform.
Volcano Engine said the deal – built on “cutting-edge multimodal large models and cloud computing technologies” – would see it “play a pivotal role in broadcasting, online interactions and live video streaming” of the events, one of the country’s most-watched television broadcasts.
The partnership also highlights how China’s tech groups and an expanding field of consumer electronics brands, are competing for exposure on the country’s biggest television stage.
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Humanoid robot maker Unitree Robotics has already signed on as a partner for the 2026 gala in a deal worth about 100 million yuan (US$14 million), the Post has reported. The company made headlines at the 2025 gala when its six humanoid robots performed a folk dance.
Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding had also held talks with state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), which produces the show, according to people familiar with the matter.
Emerging consumer electronics brands including Hangzhou-based smart glasses maker Rokid and home-appliance brand Dreame Technology had also been seeking slots, though the final sponsorship structure was yet to be settled. Alibaba Group Holding owns the Post.
A screen grab of CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala in 2025 which featured Unitree’s dancing robots. Photo: CCTV alt=A screen grab of CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala in 2025 which featured Unitree’s dancing robots. Photo: CCTV>
For ByteDance, the gala is expected to serve as both a high-profile showcase for Volcano Engine’s AI infrastructure and a springboard for its consumer-facing AI push.
The Beijing-based company was also expected to use the broadcast to promote its AI chatbot Doubao, with new interactive features tipped to be introduced during the programme, Chinese business outlet LatePost reported last week.
Doubao’s daily active users had surpassed 100 million, Chinese technology outlet 36Kr reported. Earlier data from QuestMobile showed the app’s monthly active users reached 172 million in September, ahead of DeepSeek at 145 million and Tencent’s Yuanbao at 33 million.