China's Tencent says trialling own AI reasoning model alongside DeepSeek

Insurgent Chinese AI startup DeepSeek made global headlines last month when it unveiled its R1 chatbot that can seemingly match American competitors at a fraction of the cost.

Since then, a series of major Chinese companies have said they will integrate DeepSeek's technology into their products.

On Monday, Tencent said in a post on WeChat -- the social media platform it owns -- that selected users of its Yuanbao chatbot may address queries to either DeepSeek or its homegrown AI reasoning model "Hunyuan Thinker".

"With the support of two deep reasoning models, the question-answering is more professional, the reasoning is more powerful, and the writing is more 'human'," Tencent said of the beta testing rollout.

Tencent, which also operates the QQ messaging app and is a major player in online gaming, has sought to capture a larger share of the burgeoning AI market in China.

The Shenzhen-based company is understood to have started exploring the integration of DeepSeek into multiple products, with some users of the domestic version of WeChat noting the addition of an AI search function on Sunday.

A Tencent spokesperson confirmed to AFP that the domestic app, which has over a billion monthly active users, had "recently started beta testing access to DeepSeek".

The move intensifies competition in China's internet search sector after tech titan Baidu said Sunday it would weave DeepSeek into its market-leading search engine to "enrich a more diversified search experience".

Last week, Chinese electric-vehicle giant BYD said it would integrate DeepSeek's software into its cars, following other domestic automakers like Geely, Great Wall Motors and Leapmotor.

Despite its rise to prominence at home, DeepSeek has drawn scrutiny in some countries over its collection and handling of users' personal data.

South Korea became the latest jurisdiction to remove the chatbot from app stores on Monday pending a security review, following similar moves in Italy, Taiwan, Australia and some US states.

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