People Choose Chinese AI Models for Image and Video Creation More Than Western Models, New Data Shows

TALLINN, HARJU MAAKOND, ESTONIA, October 8, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Chinese AI Models Lead Image and Video Creation, Overchat AI Data Shows



Chinese AI models account for the majority of image and video model usage on Overchat AI, even as US companies continue to dominate text. An analysis of anonymized activity from August 24 to October 5, 2026, covering 1.09 million users, 1.2 million sessions and 31.6 million interactions, shows how preferences shift when competing models are available in one app.

Chinese models dominate visual AI

Models from China-based labs represented 36.9% of all AI interactions on Overchat AI. Their share reached 43.2% in the US, 44.6% in the UK, 46.4% in Australia and 52.0% in Spain.
In image generation, Chinese models captured 59.5% of usage, up from 54.0% in the previous period. In video generation, their share rose from 43.5% to 53.6%. Text remained dominated by US providers: Gemini, GPT, Claude and Grok together made up 86.2% of text-model interactions.

Returning users choose different providers

OpenAI and Anthropic accounted for 23.8% of new users’ model usage but 19.8% among returning users. Google increased from 20.9% to 28.0%, while Chinese providers rose from 36.3% to 39.8%. Combined, Google and Chinese models represented 67.8% of returning users’ usage. The pattern suggests familiarity matters for first choices, while preferences evolve as people try alternatives.

Qwen Image surges; Seedance gains in video

ByteDance’s Seedream remained the leading image-model family at 33.5%, followed by Google’s Nano Banana at 26.1%. Alibaba’s Qwen Image nearly matched it at 26.0%, more than doubling its earlier 12.3% share. From September 22 to October 5, Qwen Image became the most-used model family across all categories at 17.2%, ahead of GPT text models (10.9%) and Gemini (10.8%).
OpenAI’s GPT Image reached 7.8% of image-model usage after GPT Image 2.5 became available on September 10. Qwen Image and GPT Image 2.5 cost the same on Overchat AI and were both included in the free plan, yet Qwen was used about four times as often during the final two weeks.
For video, Grok Imagine remained the largest individual family with 30.6%, down from 39.6%. ByteDance’s Seedance climbed from 10.8% to 25.2%, driven by Seedance 2.5, despite costing roughly three times as much per video as Grok Imagine 1.5. Kuaishou’s Kling held 21.9%.

Geography and devices shape usage

Preferences differed by market. In Japan, Gemini generated 74.4% of AI usage; Spain and Indonesia favored Qwen Image. The US was the only major market where video was the leading category (36.8%), while Brazil was the most text-focused (49.3%).
Mobile accounted for about 74% of sessions, with usage split almost evenly among text (33.3%), image (33.6%) and video (33.1%). Desktop activity was more text-oriented (51.3%). Its leading families were GPT, Gemini and Claude; mobile favorites were Seedream, Grok Imagine and Seedance.

Google leads overall; OpenAI grows fastest

By developer, Google led with 23.1% of all model usage, followed by ByteDance (17.0%), OpenAI (13.6%) and xAI (13.0%). OpenAI posted the largest increase, from 8.8% to 13.6%, supported by GPT-6 and GPT Image 2.5 releases.

Methodology

Overchat AI compared anonymized aggregate activity from August 24–October 5, 2026, with July 9–August 23. Usage shares count each user once per model used during the period, rather than counting every interaction. Model families combine available versions; provider origin reflects the developer’s location. No individual accounts, prompts, uploads or generated content were reviewed.

About Overchat AI

Overchat AI brings leading text, image, video and audio models together in one app, alongside more than 150 AI tools. Learn more at overchat.ai.

Ekaterina Hohlova
Overchat AI
+372 53236240
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube
TikTok
X