Meitu drawing bigger global picture with generative AI

Meitu Inc, a Chinese tech company known for its popular image-editing app and content-sharing software, is ramping up efforts to make forays into overseas markets while doubling down on generative AI technology to improve the production efficiency of the imaging industry.

Lu Weiying, senior product director of Meitu, said the company aims to improve localized operations in overseas markets to enhance its competitiveness globally, and expand its footprint in Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States in 2025.

According to Lu, its image editing and photography apps such as Meitu, BeautyCam and Wink, which feature enhanced AI-powered functions, have gained in popularity abroad and taken the top spot in app rankings in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.

"With the meteoric rise of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, video generation models are expected to become open-source, which will be conducive to lowering the training costs of AI models and improving their performance. We are confident that we will bring about more high-quality AI-powered video applications to market," Lu said.

"Generative AI technology is a revolutionary driving force for the imaging sector," Lu added, saying that the company is speeding up the application of AI in a wider range of fields, such as e-commerce, advertising, games, animation, film and television.

Lu noted that the expansion of Chinese AI technology and products in international markets will make contributions to the digital transformation and upgrading of industries, and that there are immense opportunities for Chinese enterprises to promote the application of AI on the global stage.

In the progress of globalization, Chinese enterprises should pay close attention to localized operations, have an in-depth understanding of the needs of local users, and press ahead with their localization strategies aimed at diverse markets, he added.

Meitu is committed to bolstering technological advancements in generative AI as combinations of AI models with image productivity tools will lower the threshold of content creation to let more people enjoy the dividends brought by AI.

The company continues to update its visual large model MiracleVision, and has rolled out a batch of AI tools covering image editing, professional video creation, commercial photography and commercial design.

The company reported that revenue stood at 3.34 billion yuan ($461.72 million) in 2024, an increase of 23.9 percent year-on-year, while adjusted net profit attributable to shareholders of the company reached 586 million yuan, up 59.2 percent year-on-year.

As of Dec 31, the company's monthly active users (MAU) reached 266 million, representing an approximate growth of 6.7 percent year-on-year. Among which, the MAU in countries and regions outside of the Chinese mainland reached 94.51 million, a surge of 21.7 percent on a yearly basis and accounting for 35.6 percent of the total MAU.

The growth in total revenue and net profit was primarily driven by the integration of AI technology with photos, videos and product design, driving the rapid growth in high-margin paid subscription revenue, the company said.

In 2024, Meitu invested 910 million yuan in research and development, an increase of 43.3 percent year-on-year, to further enhance its competitiveness in the visual field.

"Chinese tech enterprises have unique advantages in expanding AI application scenarios compared with their foreign peers, based on China's enormous domestic social networks and the world's largest number of active internet users," said Chen Duan, director of the Digital Economy Integration Innovation Development Center at Central University of Finance and Economics.

Chen said an increasing number of companies are integrating AI into their strategies to gain an advantage in an increasingly competitive global marketplace, adding that AI-generated content will lead to a new revolution in the field of digital content production and bolster innovation in the digital culture industry.

Market consultancy Gartner predicts that by the end of 2025, generative AI will account for 10 percent of all data created, compared with less than 1 percent in 2022, and could be used for a range of activities like creating software code, facilitating drug development and targeted marketing.