(Yicai) June 4 -- Doubao, the artificial intelligence app from TikTok parent ByteDance, has confirmed that it will launch a paid version for professional users. Speculation that the mostly free app would soon begin charging triggered its first month-on-month drop in active users in May.

The pro edition will cover software development, data analysis, design, workflow automation, financial analysis, scientific research, and other specialized services, Doubao said in a statement posted to its official WeChat account yesterday in response to the speculation.

Everyday functions commonly used by Doubao users such as search, question and answer, image generation, and voice and video chat will remain free for all, the app’s Beijing-based operations team noted. The pro version will also be free up to a certain usage limit, it said.

Speculation that Doubao, which dominates the Chinese consumer AI market, was preparing to charge users began after it updated its in-app purchase section on the Apple App Store early last month. The notice showed three paid annual tiers: CNY688 (USD102) for standard, CNY2,048 (USD302) for enhanced, and CNY5,088 (USD750) for professional.

Doubao's monthly active users then fell for the first time, dropping 1.8 percent in May from April to 330 million, according to data from analytics website Aicpb.com. Its closest rivals, Qwen and Quark, both developed by Alibaba Group, had MAUs of 233.7 million and 162.1 million, respectively.

The enormous computing cost of serving such a large AI user base may be one reason Doubao decided to introduce a paid version. Its token inference costs are about CNY8 billion (USD1.2 billion) a year, while its chip and computing expenses are even higher, running into the tens of billions of Chinese yuan annually, according to AI industry analysis firm Xsignal.

ByteDance’s net profit slumped 70 percent to about USD9 billion last year, after the privately held company ratcheted up AI spending in the third and fourth quarters, including heavy outlays on computing power, infrastructure, and research and development, Yicai previously learned from sources familiar with the matter. ByteDance has not confirmed the figure.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Futura Costaglione