Seedance 2.0 Photo: VCG

Chinese tech giant ByteDance's newly unveiled video-generation model Seedance 2.0 has sparked widespread discussions on social media at home and abroad, with many users praising its powerful video-generation capabilities, and others highlighting China's rapid rise in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race.   

Notably, Seedance 2.0 is only one of multiple powerful AI models launched by Chinese tech firms over past several days. On Tuesday, Alibaba-backed Qwen announced the launch of its next-generation image foundation model, Qwen-Image 2.0. On the same day, ByteDance upgraded its image-generation model Seedream to version 5.0. Tencent also announced on Monday that its Tencent Cloud unit had rolled out a one-stop AI comic and animation solution, aiming to address production and operational issues through AI generative content (AIGC)-powered capabilities.

Together, these newly released models not only showcase the leapfrog progress of China's AI industry in technological capability, but also demonstrate their immense popularity among global users — marking China's rise to the forefront of the world AI stage, experts noted.

Since its launch on Saturday, Seedance 2.0 has drawn great attention. Bloomberg noted that the app "surprised observers with the quality of generated clips." Technology-focused media outlet The Information reported that some called Seedance 2.0 a "game changer," adding that it is the latest indication of how Chinese companies are playing central roles in the advancements of AI video technology.

Swiss-based consultancy CTOL's called Seedance 2.0 the "most advanced AI video-generation model available," "surpassing OpenAI's Sora 2 and Google's Veo 3.1 in practical testing," according to tech news outlet Silicon Republic. 

On overseas social media platform X, some video clips created using Seedance 2.0 have gone viral. AI content creator "el.cine" has released multiple videos generated by Seedance 2.0 over the past few days, prompting many discussions about its capability as well as the gap between China and the US in AI. 

In one of the most widely circulated videos posted by "el.cine," a man collides with a fruit stall while running, sending fruit scattering across the ground. An X user wrote: "99 [percent] realism. If you didn't say this was AI, I would be looking up the actor." Another X user wrote that the gap between Chinese and Western AI video models is becoming "embarrassing," adding that "this looks two generations ahead of anything public in the US."

"The breakthrough of Seedance 2.0 shows that China's domestic AI has achieved a leap from 'catching up' to 'standing eye-to-eye' with global leaders in terms of multimodal application," Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday. 

This development represents more than a contest between Chinese firms and global AI giants - it is a systemic reshaping of global content production powered by China's short-video ecosystem and data advantage, according to Wang. 

In a social media post on Monday, Feng Ji, founder of Game Science, described Seedance 2.0 as "the strongest video generation model on the planet, without exception," adding that he was glad that the model came from China. He said that its low barrier to use and high production capacity could significantly popularize video creation and may even give rise to an entirely new form of entertainment.

Seedance 2.0 leverages ByteDance's vast social media database, making its content generation better tailored to short-video creators - a clear advantage over Sora, Pan Heling, a member of the expert committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told the Global Times, noting that in the future, the model could even enable "one-person film studios," where a single individual, a computer, and an AI system can produce content end-to-end.

Seedance 2.0's powerful video-generation capabilities have also triggered debates about misinformation and intellectual property protection. Amid the discussions, Seedance 2.0's operation team has suspended the use of real human images or videos as reference subjects to ensure a healthy and sustainable creative environment, according to a report by the Shanghai Securities News on Monday.

Sha Lei, a professor at the Institute of Artificial Intelligence of Beihang University, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the moves aimed at preventing the misuse of AI technology. 

Regarding stricter regulatory requirements for generative AI tools, Chinese authorities have issued multiple regulations to prevent risks related to personal privacy and intellectual property infringement, including requiring explicit and implicit labeling of all AI-generated content and prohibiting the generation of illegal or harmful information.

"China's AIGC registration and labeling system provides legal boundaries for such powerful generative AI tools, giving Chinese AI management standards greater influence on the global stage," Wang noted.

China's generative AI sector has seen rapid growth, with the number of users reaching 602 million as of December 2025, representing a year-on-year increase of 141.7 percent. The penetration rate of generative AI in China climbed to 42.8 percent, up 25.2 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the latest industry report.