I saw a set of data: China has been connected to the Internet for more than 30 years, and the number of Internet users has exceeded 1.1 billion, of which about 250 million are generative AI users. What does these 250 million people mean?
——People’s Daily Online Netizen 18*****6

Seeing this question, I first asked DeepSeek, which gave a detailed analysis and made a summary:
“The 250 million users of generative AI mark the beginning of the mass adoption of this technology, which is profoundly changing the landscape of economic, social and technological innovation. This trend not only reflects the maturity and popularization of technology, but also brings new opportunities and challenges, which need to be tackled and grasped by all sectors of society. ”
This answer is very enlightening, and I will try to give my own answer.
During this year’s Spring Festival holiday, I, like many relatives and friends around me, in addition to WeChat New Year’s greetings and Douyin, I am also immersed in “chatting” with artificial intelligence. Whether it is querying knowledge or making PPT, at least 250 million Chinese users are actively embracing the arrival of the era of artificial intelligence.
This “250 million” truly reflects the wide application and popularization of technology. The enthusiasm of Chinese netizens for new technologies and products is a deep soil for the application of new technologies. From the scale of popularization and application, we can see the development strength of China’s Internet and artificial intelligence.
This should not be considered “Versailles”. The application of technology has always relied on the feet to vote and the market to speak. In this wave of artificial intelligence, China’s development has basically kept pace with the world’s advanced level. From the data point of view, the number of top papers and patent authorizations of Chinese artificial intelligence is the first in the world, and the number of artificial intelligence companies is the second in the world…… Therefore, the recent emergence of “phenomenal” artificial intelligence products is a surprise rather than a surprise. When technological breakthroughs give rise to new applications and new business formats break ground and grow vigorously, the number of users will surge.
Since 1994, China has become the world’s largest Internet market, with the largest number of Internet users and an extremely active innovation ecosystem. From following and running to leading partially, the development of the Internet has gained fruitful feedback in adhering to scientific and technological innovation, and has also become the epitome of China’s scientific and technological development. As a result, the success of Chinese companies in the field of artificial intelligence is expected to lead to more potential creative breakthroughs in the field of science and technology, which may cause a global reassessment of China’s innovation capabilities.
In this sense, this “250 million” undoubtedly means the determination and determination to insist on innovation.
Innovation is a kind of “long-termism”. Everyone can see the benefits of innovation, but whether innovation, especially independent innovation, can be adhered to for a long time will test vision and perseverance. 3G follow-up, 4G parallel running, and 5G leading have laid the technical foundation for the booming of China’s mobile Internet, and have also become a well-known “joke” for innovation to catch up and surpass.
There is also a kind of innovation that is “forced out”, and the result is that “ambition, backbone and confidence” are enhanced. For example, in the face of the limitations of artificial intelligence chips, technology company teams have found another way and shared their technical experience with the world.
It’s not just about artificial intelligence. Over the years, the government, enterprises and society have invested heavily in science and technology, policy dividends have been released, infrastructure and innovation ecology have been increasingly improved, and the concept of innovation as the first driving force has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
In its answer, DeepSeek mentions “new opportunities and challenges”, and indeed, innovation is always on the way. The deeper meaning of “250 million” may be that in the face of opportunities and challenges, we have seen the innovation and confidence of Chinese.
Recently, there have been a number of interesting phenomenal events: Xiaohongshu has welcomed foreign netizens to settle in, DeepSeek has become the “top stream” of global technology, and the animated film “Nezha: The Demon Boy in the Sea” has broken into the top 10 of the global box office list…… The world has felt the taste of Chinese innovation.
Innovation “is the deepest national endowment of the Chinese nation”. It is precisely by virtue of innovation and self-confidence that China’s science and technology has developed rapidly and attracted the attention of the world.
Science and technology competition has always relied on strength to speak, and China has done its own thing at its own pace. In the field of basic scientific research, the number of papers in high-level international journals and the number of citations are the first in the world. In terms of emerging technologies, it has become the country with the largest number of invention patent applications in the world for many years; In terms of industrial innovation, the number of new technology clusters in the world’s top 100 continued to rank first. Looking at China’s new energy industry, which has been labeled as “overcapacity”, the British “Economist” can’t help but “hug the grievances”, issuing an article saying that “electric vehicles and lithium batteries produced in China are not only cheap, but also represent the most advanced technology”.
Just as meaningful as these “firsts” is the two-way rush and enthusiastic embrace of hundreds of millions of ordinary Chinese people with new technologies and new applications. Chinese modernization is the modernization of people. Knowing new and innovative, self-confident and self-reliant, tolerant and inclusive, is the new beauty expression given to the ancient oriental country in the new era.
Looking at the innovation map of today’s China, Hefei has created an “innovation highland” in the past, and the “Six Little Dragons” in Hangzhou have recently exploded out of the circle, and the wave of new quality productivity is really “hot and hot”.
Presumably, when I write this conclusion, this “250 million” has a new growth.