Tencent released its 2025 annual results yesterday, offering one of the clearest signs yet that for China’s tech giants, AI is no longer just a future bet, but is already making real money today.
The numbers:
Revenue: RMB 751.8 billion ($109 billion), +14%
Non-IFRS Operating Profit: RMB 280.66 billion ($40.7 billion), +18%
The details
In 2025, Tencent invested RMB 18 billion ($2.6 billion) into its two biggest AI products: the Hunyuan language model and the Yuanbao chatbot. More than RMB 7 billion ($1 billion) was spent in the fourth quarter alone.
In 2026, that amount is expected to more than double, financed by rising profits from the core business. President Lau described the spending as upfront investment to build a foundation, not as ongoing operating costs.
The RMB 18 billion also covers only Hunyuan and Yuanbao. AI initiatives in existing products and Tencent Cloud come on top of that.
AI push:
Hunyuan: Former OpenAI researcher Yao Shunyu is now leading Hunyuan development. Version 3.0 is close to release.
Yuanbao: RMB 1 billion advertising budget, 50 million daily users, 3.6 billion draws and 1 billion AI-generated tasks during Chinese New Year.
NEW: The new “OpenClaw” package combines QClaw (consumer), Lighthouse (developers), and WorkBuddy (enterprise).
At the same time, Tencent is developing its own AI agent for WeChat that is meant to operate Mini Programs autonomously.
The foundation
WeChat: 1.418 billion monthly active users (+2%). Monetization is picking up: Video Accounts +20% usage time, Mini Programs +70% transaction value in H2, payments available in 78 countries and 36 currencies.
Gaming remains the cash engine: +18% domestically and +33% internationally, reaching RMB 241.6 billion in total. The advertising business grew 19% to RMB 145 billion, as AI-powered ad targeting pushed prices higher.
The math checks out
Tencent is spending record sums on AI and is still becoming more profitable. AI is acting as a lever on top of the existing ecosystem: better ads, more efficient cloud services, smarter recommendations.
CEO Pony Ma puts it clearly: “Our highly resilient core businesses provide us with the resources to fund our increasing investments in AI.”
The planned doubling in 2026 is reinvestment into a cycle that is already generating returns.
Sources: Yicai Global, Tencent IR, DealStreet Asia, BusinessTimes
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