<div id="readability-page-1"><div id="ArticleBody-InlineImage-108061333"><div><div><p>Chinese tech company Tencent is a gaming giant and the parent company of WeChat, the ubiquitous social messaging app in China.</p><p>Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images</p></div></div></div><div><p><span id="RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-1">Tencent<span><span id="-WatchlistDropdown"></span></span></span> on Monday said it is testing an AI assistant within WeChat in China as the tech giant looks to step up efforts to challenge rivals in the country's competitive artificial intelligence market.</p><p>Xiaowei, &#34;a native AI assistant,&#34; is being tested &#34;on a small scale&#34; in Weixin, the Chinese version of WeChat, Tencent said in a statement translated by CNBC.</p><p>Users can interact with Xiaowei with text or voice, communicate with friends and launch &#34;mini-programs,&#34; Tencent added. Mini-programs are apps that run inside of WeChat.</p><p>Tencent executives have been mulling further integration of AI into WeChat since last year, with investors watching closely to see if this can be a new revenue stream and a way to monetize AI.</p></div><div><p>WeChat and Weixin have more than 1.4 billion monthly active users combined, with the majority in China. It is an indispensable part of daily life in China, where people use the app to message friends, make payments, book restaurants and much more. </p><p>By integrating an AI tool into an app with a huge user base, Tencent has an opportunity to capture a large number of them for its services. </p><p>The company did not give further details about the capabilities Xiaowei would have or what AI models it is based on. </p><p>Tech companies are talking up the potential of so-called AI agents, which they see as digital assistants that are able to carry out complex tasks on a user's behalf across different apps and services. </p><p>The new AI assistant is part of a bigger move from Tencent to challenge rivals like <span id="RegularArticle-QuoteInBody-4">Alibaba<span><span id="-WatchlistDropdown"></span></span></span>, DeepSeek and Zhipu in China, which has become an incredibly competitive AI market. This year, Tencent poached an OpenAI researcher to become its chief AI scientist. </p><p>Tencent also develops its own family of models under the brand name Hunyuan. </p></div><div><p>Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.</p></div></div>

00700

TCTZF

TCEHY

<p>Tencent is testing an AI assistant named 'Xiaowei' within WeChat in China to expand its AI services and compete with rivals like Alibaba. The small-scale test allows users to interact via text or voice and launch mini-programs. Leveraging WeChat's 1.4 billion monthly active users, Tencent aims to monetize AI and capture market share in the competitive Chinese AI landscape.</p>

- Tencent is testing an AI assistant named Xiaowei within WeChat to enhance its position in China's competitive AI market.  
- The integration aims to provide users with interactive capabilities through text or voice while leveraging WeChat's vast user base of over 1.4 billion.  
- This initiative is part of Tencent's strategy to compete with rivals like Alibaba and DeepSeek and follows the recruitment of an OpenAI scientist to bolster its AI development efforts.

CNBC

TENCENT

Tencent Holdings Limited

Tencent

BABA-W

Alibaba

KNOWLEDGE ATLAS

OpenAI

TENCENT-R

Tencent HK SDR 10to1

BABA-WR

Alibaba HK SDR 5to1

Tencent tests AI assistant in China's most popular app as it looks to catch up with rivals