The domestic large model startup Moonshot AI has recently drawn attention from the industry due to significant cuts in its marketing budget. According to Jiemian News, Moonshot AI has suspended advertising on several Android channels and third-party platforms.
Previously, Moonshot AI was known for its aggressive marketing strategy, spending nearly 200 million yuan monthly on marketing and user acquisition starting from September 2024. Key platforms for their advertising included Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, and Zhihu. The cost for Kimi to acquire a single registered user was about 30 yuan.
However, sources have revealed that the number of naturally acquired users for Kimi has significantly increased recently. Moonshot AI co-founder Zhang Yutong had previously showcased a user growth trend chart on social media, indicating a notable rise in Kimi's user base after the Spring Festival.
Reports suggest that the success of DeepSeek's open-source initiative has prompted Moonshot AI to reassess its internal strategy. After reviewing, the team believes it should adhere to the goal of achieving state-of-the-art (SOTA) in foundational models. In the future, Moonshot AI may retrain its foundational models and explore application layer opportunities, with a focus on developing intelligent agent products in deep research areas similar to OpenAI's DeepResearch.
