Tencent Steps Up Core AI Push as Former OpenAI Researcher Takes Chief Scientist Role
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Tencent has restructured its AI research and appointed a former OpenAI scientist as its chief AI leader to bolster its capabilities amid fierce competition.
Tencent has rolled out a major restructuring of its large-model research organization, aiming to consolidate resources and strengthen its in-house AI capabilities. As part of the overhaul, the company has established three new units—the AI Infrastructure (AI Infra) Department, AI Data Department, and Data Computing Platform Department—and appointed Yao Shunyu (Vinces Yao), a former OpenAI researcher, as Chief AI Scientist of the CEO/President’s Office. Yao will also concurrently lead Tencent’s AI Infra and Large Language Model teams.
The move comes as Tencent faces mounting competitive pressure in the AI assistant market. With rapid growth from rivals such as ByteDance’s Doubao, Tencent has signaled its determination to compete through a more product-driven and commercially focused strategy. Since late 2024, the company has aggressively recruited top AI talent with premium compensation packages, and in early 2025 it shifted its Yuanbao assistant into the Cloud and Smart Industries Group (CSIG) to strengthen product execution and operations.
Early results from the reorganization are beginning to emerge. Following the overhaul, Tencent released Hunyuan HY 2.0 on December 5, and over the course of 2025 the company has launched more than 30 new models.
Tencent President Martin Lau (Liu Chiping) has also made clear that WeChat will eventually introduce an AI agent, widely seen as Tencent’s next major battleground in the rapidly evolving AI race.
Source:36Kr
