Bilibili Global Expansion targets creators as YouTube competition grows
Chinese video platform Bilibili is making a fresh international push with a relaunched app, plans for an English-language website and new overseas hiring. The Bilibili Global Expansion puts a platform with more than 376 million monthly active users into a much more direct contest for international creators and viewers.
According to Moneycontrol, Bilibili has started promoting itself to creators outside China and is building teams across several international markets. The company is hiring community managers in Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, SĂŁo Paulo, Istanbul and Tokyo.
The size of Bilibili’s existing audience gives the experiment some weight. The company’s first-quarter 2026 financial results show that monthly active users surpassed 376 million. Average daily active users reached 115.2 million, up 8% from a year earlier, while average daily time spent reached 119 minutes.
Bilibili started with a strong following around animation, comics and games, but it has grown into a broader video platform with creator uploads, livestreaming and entertainment.
The Bilibili Global Expansion now aims to take that model beyond its Chinese audience.
Moneycontrol reports that the company has relaunched its international app and is preparing an English version of its website. Marketing material says its Chinese and U.S. platforms will carry the same content.
Bilibili also appears to have removed one significant obstacle for international users. Overseas users previously faced identity verification requirements when signing up for the main Chinese platform, including providing documents such as a passport. The revamped international experience reportedly removes that requirement.
Creators are another part of the strategy. Bilibili is pitching its platform as a way to reach its younger audience while also developing a marketplace connecting creators with brands for sponsored content.
The Bilibili Global Expansion comes with a financial base that is stronger than it was a few years ago. In the first quarter of 2026, Bilibili reported RMB7.47 billion, or about $1.08 billion, in revenue. Advertising revenue increased 30% year over year to RMB2.59 billion.
AI is also entering Bilibili’s business. The company said in its 2025 annual report that it uses AI for content discovery, advertising, creator tools and translation. Translation could become particularly useful if Bilibili wants Chinese creators to reach audiences who do not speak Mandarin.
Creators are another part of the strategy. Bilibili Global Expansion gives the company a chance to pitch its younger audience to international creators and advertisers while building a marketplace that connects brands with video creators. That puts Bilibili closer to the advertising model used by larger global video platforms. The AI Decode’s Google Demand Gen coverage explains how Google is combining YouTube, Shorts and other visual inventory with increasingly automated advertising tools.
Competition will be difficult. YouTube already has a global creator economy, mature advertising infrastructure and years of relationships with creators. Other short-form and social platforms are fighting for the same attention.
AI is also becoming part of the Bilibili Global Expansion strategy. The company said in its 2025 annual report that it uses AI for content discovery, advertising, creator tools and translation. Translation could be particularly useful as Bilibili tries to make Chinese videos accessible to viewers who do not speak Mandarin. The wider use of these technologies across digital platforms is covered in The AI Decode’s artificial intelligence coverage, including new AI models, products and tools.
For now, Bilibili Global Expansion is better described as an international push than an established YouTube challenge. The company has a large domestic audience, but it has not publicly provided a complete timetable for the English website or detailed how quickly it expects overseas users to grow.
The next numbers will matter more than the launch announcement. If Bilibili Global Expansion can turn its 376 million-user base and creator culture into meaningful overseas adoption, YouTube could gain another serious competitor. If international creators and viewers do not follow, Bilibili may remain much stronger at home than abroad.
