Here is a polished English translation of the Chinese title: **AI Drives Record-Breaking Global Brand Growth: Kantar Releases the 2026 Kantar BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands Report**

• Google returns to the top of the global brand rankings;
• Nvidia, Amazon, and Tencent enter the top ten, with tech brands dominating;
• Chinese brand value grows by an average of 32% year-on-year, shifting from scale expansion to capability enhancement

ShanghaiMay 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On May 14, Kantar Group officially released the “2026 Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Global Brands Top 100” ranking and analysis report. The report shows that the total value of the top 100 global brands in 2026 reached $13.1 trillion, a year-on-year increase of 22%, indicating that brand growth is entering a new cycle of acceleration.

This year’s ranking sends a clear signal: AI is rapidly reshaping the global brand value system, pushing the threshold for entering the list to an all-time high. Brands that fail to adapt to the AI transformation will see their competitive advantages quickly eroded.

For the first time, four brands have simultaneously surpassed the trillion-dollar mark: Google (1st, $1.5 trillion), Apple (2nd, $1.4 trillion), Microsoft (3rd, $1.1 trillion), and Amazon (4th, $1.0 trillion).

Among them, Google’s brand value surged 57% year-on-year, reclaiming the top spot for the first time since 2018, ending Apple’s four-year reign. Its growth is primarily driven by three factors: deep integration of Gemini into core products, the introduction of agentic features with autonomous execution capabilities in search, and continued heavy investment in data centers.

Meanwhile, AI-native brands are rising rapidly. Claude entered the global top 100 for the first time, ranking 27th with a brand value close to $100 billion ($96.6 billion). At the same time, ChatGPT became the fastest-growing brand of the year, with brand value surging 285% year-on-year.

Additionally, the list welcomed 3 new brands and 4 returning brands, with a total of 70 brands achieving value growth compared to 2025.

AI Amplifies Brand Value: Beyond Technology, It’s Still a Human Choice

Today, consumers experience brands through multiple touchpoints shaped by AI—from personalized information feeds to large language models that influence what they see and choose. As AI increasingly filters and weights content, it becomes more critical than ever for brands to stand out, establish differentiation, and create a sense of meaning amidst the noise.

Kantar’s analysis shows that successful brands are leveraging technology to achieve two major leaps: on one hand, using AI to improve efficiency, optimize supply, and enhance experiences; on the other hand, and more importantly, using AI to deeply understand consumer needs and build long-term emotional connections.

2026 Kantar BrandZ Top 10 Most Valuable Global Brands

Doreen Wang, CEO of Kantar Greater China and Global Chair of Kantar BrandZ, said: “AI accelerates brand growth, but it also makes brand building more complex. Brands face more signals, faster decision-making pressure, and greater difficulty discerning which insights truly matter. In a decision-making environment flooded with data and AI, exceptional brands are reshaping ‘clarity of judgment’—identifying which data to trust, precisely connecting consumer behavior to business decisions, and acting quickly and decisively.”

“AI is evolving from an efficiency tool into a core driver of brand growth. But this change does not diminish the importance of brands. On the contrary, in an era where algorithms and recommendations increasingly dominate consumer choices, brands become the key factor influencing final decisions. AI has not made brands less important; it has further amplified their value.”

Leading Chinese Brands Continue to Evolve, Global Influence Significantly Enhanced

In this round of global brand restructuring driven by AI, Asian brands are steadily expanding their influence in both domestic and international markets, with Chinese brands performing particularly prominently.

This year, 23 Asian brands made the list, accounting for nearly a quarter of the global top 100; Chinese brands numbered 13, an increase from last year (12), with brand value growing by an average of 32% year-on-year, significantly higher than the global average, continuously showcasing the innovation vitality and global competitiveness of Chinese brands.

The rise of Chinese brands is no longer solely reliant on scale expansion but is reflected in a dual enhancement of response speed and value expression capability. Unlike the traditional path of relying on complete data before making decisions, Chinese brands excel at making decisive judgments and taking swift action at the early stages of trends, optimizing experiences through continuous iteration, and quickly turning insights into tangible value. This agile capability is becoming a key competitive advantage in an increasingly uncertain market environment.

Specifically, the listed Chinese brands demonstrate clear growth paths across different sectors, for example:

Tencent (8th) continues to leverage its ecosystem, strengthening monetization capabilities through gaming, video account advertising, and cloud computing services; Alibaba (19th) has stabilized its brand value through business structure optimization and user experience upgrades; Douyin/TikTok (25th) has achieved commercial success in the global consumer market with its unique model of deep integration between content and e-commerce; Huawei (41st) defines AI as the most certain strategic opportunity for the next decade, focusing on the deterministic demands of computing power and connectivity to enhance user lifetime value; Haier (53rd) embraces AI across all employees, all areas, and all processes, building an AI-native organization and continuously strengthening its IoT ecosystem brand competitiveness; Xiaomi (81st), through its dual-engine layout of “AIoT + Smart Electric Vehicles” and driven by the “Human-Car-Home Full Ecosystem” strategy, enters a new growth cycle with a premium brand image.

Beyond the 13 Chinese brands on the top 100 list, another 14 Chinese brands and their related sub-brands made it onto global industry sub-rankings: Alcoholic Beverages (Wuliangye, Guojiao 1573, Xinghuacun), Apparel (SHEIN, Anta), Automotive (BYD), Food & Beverage (Nongfu Spring, Yili, Eastroc Beverage), Media & Entertainment (WeChat), Retail (Tmall, Taobao, Pinduoduo), and Home Care (Liby).

Lynn Zhang, Executive Director of Kantar China, said: “Behind the strong rise of Chinese brands, there is a clear main line: continuously expanding the value boundaries of brands in consumers’ lives. Starting from existing strengths, they precisely extend into new growth spaces. From content to e-commerce, from hardware to mobility, they constantly break boundaries while maintaining the foundation of ‘being trusted,’ providing consumers with clear value. Whether in the process of globalization or long-term brand building, Chinese brands demonstrate sharper judgment and more decisive action, offering a new benchmark for global brand growth.”

2026 Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Global Brands – 13 Chinese Brands on the List

Brand Competition Enters a New Phase, Three Key Capabilities Become the Dividing Line

The report points out that brand growth is entering a more complex phase. Leading brands generally possess three key capabilities: rapid response capability (making judgments and taking action at the early stages of trends), experience optimization capability (reducing friction, delivering perceptible, understandable, and resonant value), and long-term brand building capability (maintaining consistency and trust amidst change).

This trend is already evident among global leading brands:

• Apparel: Zara became the world’s most valuable apparel brand, driven by AI-powered personalized shopping experiences that continuously enhance brand relevance.
• Luxury: Hermès became the world’s most valuable luxury brand, stemming from a continuous understanding of diverse consumers and the reinforcement of long-term value.
• Financial Services: Traditional banks like Chase and HSBC achieved significant growth, built on trust-based consumer relationships; Ping An retained the top spot in global insurance brand value, with brand value increasing over 40% to $37.2 billion. Its commitment to technology-driven and service innovation amidst the wave of change is the core driver of its brand value leap.
• Automotive: BYD has been ranked among the top ten global automotive brands for four consecutive years, not only setting a new historical height for Chinese automotive brands but also demonstrating its leading strength in the global new energy track.
• Food & Beverage: Eastroc Beverage entered the industry sub-ranking for the first time, driving brand value growth through emotional connection; among the 20 fastest-growing brands, Nongfu Spring is the only food and beverage brand. With the dual-engine resonance of water and beverages, this Chinese brand, now “thirty years old,” showcases strong operational resilience and growth potential to the market.

Brand growth is no longer solely driven by functional performance; emotional connection is becoming a greater growth opportunity. Leading brands are shifting from “product and function providers” to “value creators”—not only making consumers know what the brand does but also helping them understand why the brand matters.

Sirius Wang, Managing Director of Products and Operations at Kantar Greater China, commented: “In the AI era, the real differentiator is not whether technology is used, but whether it can be used to continuously create value that consumers can perceive and trust. Strong brands stand out because they carry trust and authority. Continuously deepening consumer connections and enhancing brand value perception remain the core drivers of long-term growth.”