ByteDance is entering 2026 with four priorities in artificial intelligence. This includes increasing investment in world models, keeping its video model Seedance near the top tier globally, strengthening its coding foundation, and accelerating commercialization of Doubao, especially in office productivity.
World models
ByteDance’s AI portfolio already includes Seed 2.0, Seedance 2.0, and Doubao, which has built a large user base on the application side. Multiple sources told 36Kr that Doubao’s daily active users (DAUs) surpassed 200 million after the 2026 Lunar New Year.
But ByteDance’s AI lineup still has a gap in world models, a research direction widely seen as central to the next stage of large model development.
World models are AI systems designed to understand and simulate physical or digital environments, making them relevant to robotics, games, and interactive content.
