It is customary in China to give gifts during the Lunar New Year. During the most recent festivities, which ended on March 3rd, the country’s artificial-intelligence industry enthusiastically embraced the tradition. Over the preceding month companies handed out coupons worth 8bn yuan ($1.2bn) to anyone willing to download and use their applications, the latest versions of which boast “agentic” capabilities that allow bots to perform tasks such as ordering a meal with a few spoken instructions.
