There has been a lot of excitement about China’s “Big 3” tech giants Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent. Now a new challenger has appeared on the scene: Bytedance, a Beijing-based unicorn which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to create addictive content.

When you browse online for a new pair of shoes, pick a movie to stream on Netflix or apply for a car loan, an algorithm likely has its word to say on the outcome.