So far, the number of mobile gamers in China is almost double the number of people in the US, so Chushou definitely has the potential to become a proper Twitch competitor. Livestreaming is immensely popular in China, as well -- Chushou rival Douyu TV, for instance, says it has around 30 million daily active users. That makes Google's new ally look tiny in comparison.

Back in 2015, Google also joined a $75 million funding round for Beijing-based AI startup Mobvoi. It's a small company, but it's already released an Assistant-capable smart home device and a decent $100 Android Wear smartwatch. Last year, Google DeepMind's AlphaGo competed against top Chinese Go players in the province of Zhejiang, and the company also opened an AI lab in Beijing.