Soul App
Chinese app matching Gen Z users by interests, using its own AI for chat and virtual companions.
On the record
Checkpoint: Six-month compliance check on AI-companion features under China's Anthropomorphic Services rule
The call
Soul makes money almost entirely from AI companionship features that Chinese regulators just started cracking down on, with its compliance status still unknown.
Soul App makes money by letting young Chinese users chat with AI companions and send virtual gifts, earning over 2 billion dollars in 2024 with very high profit margins. The company built its own AI system and has millions of daily users, which normally would be hard for competitors to replace, but in July 2026 China banned the type of AI emotional companions that Soul depends on for 90% of its revenue. Other big tech companies like ByteDance shut down their similar features rather than fight the rule, so Soul's biggest risk is not a rival stealing its users or a smarter AI, but whether China will let Soul keep operating its main business at all.
Why
01
AI pressure: Soul's own 'With-you' AI companion feature. AI-emotional features drive over 90% of revenue, but the same AI category is now under Chinese regulatory attack. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: Tencent. Tencent owns 49.9% of Soul and controls WeChat/QQ, capping how big Soul can grow without stepping on its majority backer. Could a giant copy it? Probably.
03
What protects it. Proprietary interaction data and its own Soul X model give it a working AI-companion product few rivals can copy quickly.
What would change this call
Whether Soul's 'With-you' AI companion feature stays live and unaltered after July 15, 2026. Shows if Soul can keep its 90% AI-emotional revenue base under the new rule.
Whether Soul's refiled Hong Kong IPO (filed Nov 27, 2025) actually lists or is withdrawn again. Shows if investors trust Soul's growth story after two prior failed IPO attempts.
Whether B Soul hardware device ships in mass production in August 2026 as planned. Shows if the hardware pivot can offset any AI-companion revenue lost to regulation.
Whether Soul's refiled Hong Kong IPO (filed Nov 27, 2025) actually lists or is withdrawn again. Shows if investors trust Soul's growth story after two prior failed IPO attempts.
Whether B Soul hardware device ships in mass production in August 2026 as planned. Shows if the hardware pivot can offset any AI-companion revenue lost to regulation.
Key numbers
- RMB 2.21B revenue, 2024
- Over 90% of revenue from AI-emotional features
- 11M daily active users, 2025
Named risks
- AI companion feature 'With-you' could be forced shut like ByteDance and Alibaba's, hitting 90%+ of revenue.
- Revenue heavily concentrated in a single AI-emotional-value category now under direct regulatory targeting.
- Third Hong Kong IPO attempt has no confirmed listing date as of July 2026 after two prior failed attempts.
- Tencent's 49.9% stake creates coopetition dynamics that could cap independent strategic and revenue growth.
- Small-cap HK IPO market has struggled for liquidity in 2026 versus AI megadeals like Shein.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Hello Group (Momo/Tantan) | gaining on | Rolled out AI-driven matching in 2025 with ~$1.5B cash reserves as of early 2025 |
| Tencent | contesting | 49.9% shareholder yet WeChat/QQ super-app moat structurally caps standalone app growth, as of Dec 2025 |
| ByteDance (Doubao) | contesting | Shut down its AI companion feature outright on July 15, 2026 rather than comply with new rules |
| Alibaba (Qwen) | contesting | Shut down its AI companion feature outright on July 15, 2026 rather than comply with new rules |
| Yidui | contesting | Also reportedly pursuing a Hong Kong IPO in the same dating-app segment as of 2026 |
Questions people ask
- Is Soul App profitable in 2025?
- Yes. Soul App has been profitable since 2023, reporting adjusted net profit of about RMB 337.3 million in 2024 and RMB 286 million in the first eight months of 2025, on revenue of RMB 2.21 billion in 2024 and RMB 1.68 billion through August 2025, per its Hong Kong IPO filing as of December 2025.
- Who owns Soul App?
- Soul App is operated by Soulgate Inc. Tencent, through Image Frame Investment (HK) Limited, is the largest external shareholder with a 49.9% economic interest and 25.7% voting rights, making it a major but non-controlling backer as of the December 2025 Hong Kong IPO filing.
- Could AI replace Soul App's business?
- Soul App is already AI-native rather than AI-threatened: over 90% of its revenue as of December 2025 comes from AI-powered features like its own Soul X LLM, the 'With-you' AI companion, and AI-generated virtual gifts, so AI is Soul's core product, not a disruptor to it.
- Who is Soul App's biggest competitor?
- Hello Group, parent of Momo and Tantan, is Soul App's closest rival, holding roughly $1.5 billion in cash/short-term investments as of early 2025 and rolling out its own AI-driven matching features that same year, directly contesting Soul's Gen Z social-matching niche.
- Will Soul App go public on the Hong Kong stock exchange?
- Unresolved. Soul refiled its Hong Kong IPO application on November 27, 2025 with CITIC Securities as sole sponsor, its third listing attempt after a withdrawn 2021 US IPO and an expired 2022 HK filing. No confirmed HKEX listing date existed as of July 2026.
- Does Soul App make its own AI models?
- Yes. Soul App built its own 'Soul X' native emotional-intelligence LLM, launched in 2023, and by July 2026 had open-sourced SoulX-FlashTalk (14B), SoulX-Singer, and SoulX-FlashHead (1.3B), plus unveiled an AI hardware companion device, 'B Soul,' at WAIC 2026.
Timeline
- 2026-07-16Soul unveils AI hardware wearable 'B Soul' at WAIC 2026, mass production planned from August 2026
- 2026-07-15China's AI Anthropomorphic Interactive Services regulation takes effect; ByteDance and Alibaba shut companion features
- 2026-04-10CAC, NDRC, MIIT, MPS, SAMR jointly issue AI companion regulation targeting services like Soul's 'With-you'
- 2025-12-24Soul releases '2026 Gen Z Social Trends Report' with Fudan University, coins 'AI Spiritual Shareholder'
- 2025-11-27Soul refiles Hong Kong IPO application with CITIC Securities as sole sponsor
- 2025-07-29Soul demos full-duplex voice LLM with AI hosts at WAIC 2025
- 2024-09Soul launches 'With-you' AI companion ('AI boyfriend') feature
- 2023Soul launches self-developed 'Soul X' native emotional-intelligence LLM
- 2022-06-08Soulgate formally withdraws its $185 million US IPO F-1 filing
- 2021-05Soulgate files for US Nasdaq/NYSE IPO priced at $13-15 per ADS
Revision history
23 July 2026
First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Soul (app) (2025-12-09)
- Soul to Launch Its First Portable AI Smart Device (2026-07-14)
- Soul App Files For Hong Kong IPO (2025-12-03)
- Soul App: The Gateway to AI-Enhanced Social Networking (2025-11-21)
- Chinese social networking platform Goulgate officially withdraws $185 million US IPO (2022-06-08)
- Tencent-backed social networking app Soul revives IPO in Hong Kong
- China's regulation on AI companions takes force (2026-07-15)
- Doubao and Qwen Shut Down (2026-07-15)
- How Chinese Women Navigate Soul's AI Boyfriend (2026-04-01)
- Gen AI's Social Playground (2026-07-21)
- Soul App Redefines Human-AI Interaction with Full-Duplex Technology at WAIC 2025 (2025-07-29)
- Soul Makes Its Debut at WAIC 2026 (2026-07-16)