--- title: "Goldman’s “black-box” says global AI app revenue is $30B. We “open-sourced” the full list | AI Top 100" author: "JasonH1121" sourcePublication: "Unique Research Substack" originalPublishedAt: "2025-09-29T04:14:51+00:00" canonical: "https://ffcap.cn/en/research/goldmans-black-box-says-global-ai" source: "https://uniqueresearch.substack.com/p/goldmans-black-box-says-global-ai" language: "en" --- # Goldman’s “black-box” says global AI app revenue is $30B. We “open-sourced” the full list | AI Top 100 On **September 16, 2025**, Goldman Sachs published figures claiming that as of **August 2025** the **global ARR of AI applications is ~$30B**, with **China at ~$1.5B**, and **~80% of China’s ARR coming from overseas markets**. The numbers looked familiar—but the report didn’t say which apps they were based on. [![图片](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_5ob!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63ef0160-649a-4cb7-a153-92f9754b62d0_1080x473.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!_5ob!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F63ef0160-649a-4cb7-a153-92f9754b62d0_1080x473.png) So we checked the **AGI Intelligence Hub** at **UNIQUE RESEARCH (非凡产研)**. Using our dataset of **420 products worldwide with ARR > $1M**, the dashboard (screenshot previously shared) showed a structure strikingly similar to Goldman’s. That screenshot used **July 2025** data. Below is our **updated cut for August 2025**—a revenue map that aims to mirror reality across **Overseas / China / China-going-global** segments. [![图片](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ki8R!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F01d01c51-4d0e-4cfa-a428-5133578d41aa_1080x529.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Ki8R!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F01d01c51-4d0e-4cfa-a428-5133578d41aa_1080x529.png) - **Global ARR (products > $1M ARR): ~$35.276B** - **Overseas products:** **~$33.62B** - **China products:** **~$1.658B** - **Domestic (China-only):** **~$0.338B** - **China going-global:** **~$1.316B** - **Share of China’s ARR from going-global products:** **79.37%** (very close to Goldman’s “~80%”) If you aggregate the **Global Top 100**, **August annualized revenue ≈ $33.68B**. By channel: - **Web:** **83.44%** - **App:** **16.55%** Why? Enterprise/general assistants monetize via **Web subscriptions & seat licenses** (higher price points and larger account sizes), while **mobile** leans toward consumer tools and lighter scenarios (more fragmented revenue). By category (share of revenue): - **Chatbots:** **74.11%** (far ahead) - **Code assistants:** **3.57%** - **Writing software:** **2.39%** - **Image editing:** **2.03%** - **Image generation:** **1.91%** - **Video generation:** **1.75%** - **Recruiting tools:** **1.48%** - **Personal assistants:** **1.37%** Within the Global Top 100 by region/type: - **Overseas:** **$32.521B (96.54%)** - **Domestic (China-only):** **$0.237B (0.70%)** - **China going-global:** **$0.928B (2.75%)** Overseas (especially a few leading foundation models and their ecosystems) drives the vast majority of revenue; Chinese products in the list skew more toward **Apps**. Within **China’s AI Top 100**: - **Total:** **$1.637B** - **Going-global:** **$1.243B (75.93%)** - **Domestic:** **$0.394B (24.07%)** In short, **over three-quarters** of China’s AI app revenue comes from **going-global**. The most commercializable Chinese products tend to deliver **visible efficiency / quantifiable value** across languages and cultures (e.g., **visual generation, video tools, summarization/transform**), and they **blend Web + App** to widen reach and conversion. - **Global Top 100:** **Web/App = 83.44% / 16.55%** - **China going-global:** **Web/App = 55.06% / 44.83%** (more balanced than global) - **China domestic:** **~100% App**, concentrated in **mobile imaging** and **content consumption** (e.g., **Meitu Xiuxiu**, **BeautyCam**, **Wink**). For **China going-global** products, **August annualized revenue ≈ $928M**. Category mix: - **Video generation (28.02%)** - **Image editing (18.32%)** - **Article summarization (13.47%)** - **Object recognition (13.25%)** - **Agents (10.13%)** - **Video editing (4.85%)** - **Intelligent search (4.63%)** - **Personal health (2.59%)** Representative products (by revenue, high to low): **KLING AI, PLAUD, PictureThis, Hypic, HeyGen, manus, Genspark, Airbrush, OpusClip, BeautyPlus**, etc. Two takeaways: 1. **Visible efficiency travels** across languages and cultures—users grasp the value instantly and pay more readily. 2. **Hybrid distribution & pricing**: the same company often runs **Web subscriptions** alongside **App subscriptions/IAP**, covering desktop high-intent usage and mobile high-frequency micro-tasks. At the very top of the global stack, **ChatGPT** and **Claude** dominate dollar volumes via **Web subs**, so overseas naturally takes an outsized share. Chinese teams excel in **granular scenarios, engineering velocity, and operational efficiency**—which scales cash flow faster in **C-side image/video/content tools** and **SMB-oriented light SaaS**. Hence **going-global** shows a **more balanced Web/App mix**, while **domestic** remains **App-heavy**. Strategically, **overseas leaders** push **platform/ecosystem extension**, whereas **China going-global** compounds through **ongoing productization + ops**, punching through one **measurable micro-scene** at a time. Both paths work—just with different focal points. * * * **AI Top 100** detailed lists: - **Global AI Product Revenue Ranking** - **China AI Product Revenue Ranking** - **China Going-Global AI Product Revenue Ranking** **Our reach & recognition:** Our data and insights are widely trusted and cited by leading **investment institutions, academia, and media** as benchmarks for market analysis, investment decisions, and trend tracking. Selected partners/citations include major **brokerages/investment banks** (e.g., **国金证券、 中信建投、 华源证券、 海通证券**) and **authoritative media** (e.g., **中国证券报、钛媒体、界面新闻**). We believe that **only data validated by core industry participants** holds long-term value. We also believe in **open source and openness**. UNIQUE RESEARCH makes three commitments: 1. **AI Top 100 will remain permanently open-sourced and free**, with full methodology and raw data supporting end-to-end reproduction. 2. **All data sources are strictly limited to independent third-party monitoring platforms**; we do **not** accept company self-reported numbers as evaluation inputs. 3. **Rankings remain absolutely neutral**—we do **not** accept any commercial deals or payments that could influence results. - **Investors/Analysts:** A clean, reverse-engineerable **baseline** for building models, sourcing under-the-radar projects, and cross-validating theses. - **AI Founders/Product Managers:** Precisely locate competitors and **replicate our methodology** to analyze your own product’s market performance and optimization roadmap. - **Researchers/Students:** With full open access, this is a high-quality **free dataset** for academic work and market studies. We welcome novel research based on it. **Access the full charts and underlying data** behind the AI Top 100 at **100aiapps.cn**. All visible data is copyable and **free for personal study/research** (for commercial use, please contact UNIQUE RESEARCH for authorization). We also **welcome listed teams**—under compliant use—to reference the rankings in pitch decks, recruiting materials, etc., as **authoritative proof** of your strength. [![图片](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fU0g!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7ec6be8f-de78-4b2d-a388-81043c31fc10_1080x1788.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!fU0g!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7ec6be8f-de78-4b2d-a388-81043c31fc10_1080x1788.png) [![图片](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!P9z9!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F10fb90f8-f808-47a9-8f05-839b53c3c7fd_1080x1906.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!P9z9!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F10fb90f8-f808-47a9-8f05-839b53c3c7fd_1080x1906.png) [![图片](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c-GH!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7033614e-4d5e-445a-9c93-49a0d36cdd57_1080x1897.png)](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!c-GH!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7033614e-4d5e-445a-9c93-49a0d36cdd57_1080x1897.png) --- Original publication: https://uniqueresearch.substack.com/p/goldmans-black-box-says-global-ai On-site reading page: https://ffcap.cn/en/research/goldmans-black-box-says-global-ai