Volcano Engine, the cloud computing unit of Chinese tech giant ByteDance, said on Monday it has secured an “exclusive AI cloud partnership” with the Spring Festival Gala – a marquee slot that underlines the company’s ambition to turn its artificial intelligence cloud business into a national-scale platform.
Volcano Engine said the deal – built on “cutting-edge multimodal large models and cloud computing technologies” – would see it “play a pivotal role in broadcasting, online interactions and live video streaming” of the events, one of the country’s most-watched television broadcasts.
The partnership also highlights how China’s tech groups and an expanding field of consumer electronics brands, are competing for exposure on the country’s biggest television stage.
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Humanoid robot maker Unitree Robotics has already signed on as a partner for the 2026 gala in a deal worth about 100 million yuan (US$14 million), the Post has reported. The company made headlines at the 2025 gala when its six humanoid robots performed a folk dance.
Tencent Holdings and Alibaba Group Holding had also held talks with state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), which produces the show, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Emerging consumer electronics brands including Hangzhou-based smart glasses maker Rokid and home-appliance brand Dreame Technology had also been seeking slots, though the final sponsorship structure was yet to be settled. Alibaba Group Holding owns the Post.