Chinese Big Tech firms from Tencent Holdings to ByteDance are intensifying their focus on artificial intelligence (AI) agents in a competitive market, taking advantage of the void left by rival Manus AI, which has relocated overseas amid geopolitical tensions.
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At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai over the weekend, Tencent’s cloud computing unit unveiled a dozen AI agents – software designed to autonomously complete tasks on behalf of business users and consumers, the company said on WeChat on Sunday.
Tencent showcased how its online marketing agent could automate entire workflows – from profiling target consumers and selecting suitable products to creating marketing materials and evaluating campaign performance.
AI agents, such as those specialising in coding, have emerged as a new battleground, with both Chinese and international companies racing to launch competing services. Tencent recently introduced CodeBuddy IDE, akin to ByteDance’s Trae and Baidu’s Comate, which are AI-powered coding assistant apps that streamline software development.
While Tencent’s AI agents already support a variety of use cases, such as assistive coding, the company has also updated its agent development platforms to enable third-party developers to create tailored and specialised agents.
The initiative is aimed at accelerating AI adoption – a move that Tencent Cloud vice-president Wu Yunsheng described as crucial for unlocking the value of AI models.
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