Tech Brief (April 24): Tencent Unveils First Major AI Model Update Under New Leadership

Published: Apr. 24, 2026 6:48 p.m. GMT+8

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Tencent unveils major AI model update under new leadership

Tencent Holdings Ltd. on Thursday launched a new open-source artificial intelligence model, marking its first major technological update since overhauling its AI leadership. The model, dubbed Hy3 Preview, is a mixture-of-experts system with 295 billion parameters, of which 21 billion are activated, and it can process up to 256,000 tokens of context. It has already been deployed across Tencent’s ecosystem, including its flagship AI chatbot Yuanbao, which will switch its primary underlying model from DeepSeek to the new in-house technology. The release underscores Tencent’s strategic pivot under its new AI chief toward practical product integration rather than benchmark scores, as the tech giant seeks to narrow a widening user gap with domestic market leaders in the highly competitive AI sector.

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Tencent launches Hy3 Preview AI model (295B parameters, 21B active, 256K tokens), deployed in Yuanbao under new AI leadership.
T3 Mobility, China's 3rd-largest smart mobility platform (235M users, 194 cities), files HK IPO; 2025 GTW 18.9B yuan (+10.5%), 13% margin.
Xiaomi releases MiMo-V2.5 AI series; Black Lake Technologies raises 1B yuan ($146M) Series D for industrial AI expansion.

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Who’s Who

Tencent Holdings Ltd.: Tencent Holdings Ltd. launched Hy3 Preview, a new open-source AI model with 295 billion parameters (21 billion activated) and 256,000-token context. It's deployed across its ecosystem, including chatbot Yuanbao, switching from DeepSeek. This marks its first major AI update post-leadership overhaul, focusing on product integration to close user gaps with rivals. (Tencent backs T3 Mobility's HK IPO.)

T3 Mobility: T3 Mobility, China's third-largest smart mobility platform backed by FAW Group, Dongfeng Motor, Changan Automobile, Tencent, and Alibaba, filed for a Hong Kong IPO. It covers 194 cities with 235 million users. In 2025, it turned profitable, with GTW up 10.5% YoY to 18.9B yuan ($2.7B) and 13% gross margin.

FAW Group: FAW Group backs T3 Mobility, China's third-largest smart mobility platform with 235 million users across 194 cities. T3 filed for a Hong Kong IPO after turning profitable in 2025, with GTV up 10.5% to 18.9 billion yuan ($2.7B) and 13% gross margin.

Dongfeng Motor: Dongfeng Motor backs T3 Mobility, China's third-largest smart mobility platform with 235 million users across 194 cities. T3 filed for a Hong Kong IPO after turning profitable in 2025, with gross transaction value up 10.5% to 18.9 billion yuan ($2.7B) and 13% gross margin.

Changan Automobile: Changan Automobile backs T3 Mobility, China's third-largest smart mobility platform with 235 million users across 194 cities. T3 filed for a Hong Kong IPO after turning profitable in 2025, with GTV up 10.5% to 18.9 billion yuan.

Alibaba: Alibaba is a backer of T3 Mobility, China's third-largest smart mobility platform, which filed for a Hong Kong IPO. T3 covers 194 cities with 235 million users, turned profitable in 2025, with gross transaction value up 10.5% to 18.9 billion yuan ($2.7 billion) and 13% gross margin.

Xiaomi Corp.: Xiaomi Corp. launched public testing for its Xiaomi MiMo-V2.5 series AI models, including V2.5, V2.5-Pro, V2.5-TTS Series, and V2.5-ASR. These offer enhanced reasoning, AI agents, context comprehension, and cross-modal perception. V2.5-Pro handles complex tasks with nearly 1,000 tool calls and builds a video editor web app in 11 hours.

Black Lake Technologies: Black Lake Technologies, a manufacturing execution system provider, completed a nearly 1-billion-yuan ($146 million) Series D funding round. Investors include Sense Capital and the National AI Industry Investment Fund. The profitable firm will use funds to accelerate industrial AI applications and global expansion.

Sense Capital: Sense Capital invested in Black Lake Technologies' nearly 1-billion-yuan ($146 million) Series D funding round, alongside the National AI Industry Investment Fund. The profitable industrial software firm will use the capital for industrial AI applications and global expansion.

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