China’s biggest tech companies are competing for attention during CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala, the nation’s largest entertainment event, often compared to America’s Super Bowl. ByteDance’s cloud unit, Volcano Engine, won the exclusive AI cloud partnership for this year’s gala, replacing last year’s sponsor Alibaba Cloud. To attract viewers, ByteDance plans to give away over 100,000 tech products including drones, electric vehicles, robots, and 3D printers, alongside digital red envelopes worth up to 8,888 yuan (about US$1,286). This giveaway challenges Tencent’s Yuanbao and Alibaba’s Qwen AI apps, which previously handed out billions of yuan in cash and vouchers during the holiday season. Alibaba, excluded from the main gala partnership, sponsors other local festival shows to promote its Qwen AI. Robots are set to dazzle audiences again after last year’s viral Unitree robots performed a folk dance. Unitree, Magiclab, Galbot, and Noetix have deals with the gala reportedly worth 100 million yuan, though exact acts remain secret. Robots continue to find their stage in entertainment before becoming industrial helpers. Shanghai’s Agibot even held its own online robot gala this week. Despite being the most-watched TV event in China with nearly 80% viewership last year, the gala is less popular among younger audiences. To boost interest, CCTV partnered with digital platforms like RedNote, Bilibili, Kuaishou, and Douyin, aiming for more online engagement. Other companies such as Suzhou’s Dreame Technology and retailers like Miniso and Kayou are also using the gala to advertise, rolling out festive products and commercial spots. The intense marketing battle at this event highlights China’s tech rivals pushing hard to capture attention on the country's biggest stage.