Meitu's Wu Xinhong Responds to Large Model Competition: Vertical Applications Are Like Professional Tools; Meitu App Data Still Growing Rapidly

February 5th midday news: The public opinion surrounding large model applications has sparked market concerns, leading to a collective setback in the AI application sector. Recently, at the company’s annual meeting, Meitu’s CEO Wu Xinhong discussed the competition between models and applications. He revealed that even after the release of Nano Banana, Meitu’s application data continued to grow rapidly, and there is a synergistic effect between general large models and applications. Wu Xinhong openly stated that general large models are “all-powerful,” leaving little room for application layers. However, at the same time, the efficiency of general large models in specific vertical scenarios is not very high. He compared large models to a “Swiss Army knife,” capable of handling general needs and daily tasks, while vertical applications are like specialized tools such as scissors, craft knives, fruit knives, and nail clippers, meeting specific needs in different scenarios. In Wu Xinhong’s view, application developers have space in every era, and the key lies in deeply exploring high-value vertical scenarios. These scenarios generally have very rigid demands, high costs, and low efficiency, but customers are willing to pay for them, and providing services can also create highly elastic growth potential. The competitive barrier between applications and large models mainly depends on whether they can establish the mindset of “I am the most professional in this vertical scenario,” solving the last mile and long-tail demands. (Sina Tech)