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Tencent Opens WorkBuddy Platform to Third Parties in Enterprise AI Push

Published: Sep. 3, 2026 2:55 a.m. GMT+8

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Tencent's WorkBuddy announced the official launch of its open platform on Sept. 2. Photo: VCG

Tencent Holdings Ltd. on Wednesday launched an open platform for its workplace AI assistant, WorkBuddy, teaming up with more than 100 hardware and software providers in a push to build a broader enterprise ecosystem.

The initiative makes WorkBuddy’s underlying AI-agent capabilities available to third-party developers, hardware makers and industry applications. Initial partners include more than 30 software vendors, among them GF Securities Co. Ltd. and Weimob Inc., as well as nine co-branded smart devices from brands including Rokid and iFlytek Co. Ltd.

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Tencent launched an open platform for its workplace AI assistant WorkBuddy, partnering with over 100 hardware and software providers to build an enterprise ecosystem.
Partners keep core assets on their own servers for data security; revenue-sharing is early-stage, with separate billing for hardware partners.
WorkBuddy, a priority for Tencent, saw first-quarter retention exceed 60% among active users and 80% among paying subscribers, intensifying competition with ByteDance and Alibaba.

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Who’s Who

Tencent Holdings Ltd.: Tencent Holdings Ltd. launched an open platform for its AI assistant WorkBuddy, partnering with over 100 software and hardware providers. The move aims to build an enterprise AI ecosystem, competing with ByteDance and Alibaba. WorkBuddy, a priority for Tencent, generates early returns via subscriptions and supports Tencent Cloud revenue growth.

GF Securities Co. Ltd.: According to the article, GF Securities Co. Ltd. is one of more than 30 software vendors partnering with Tencent on the open platform for its workplace AI assistant, WorkBuddy. The collaboration aims to build a broader enterprise ecosystem for AI-agent capabilities.

Weimob Inc.: Weimob Inc. (微盟集团) is a software vendor and initial partner in Tencent's WorkBuddy open platform, one of over 30 software providers collaborating to integrate its AI-agent capabilities for enterprise applications.

Rokid: Rokid is a partner in Tencent's WorkBuddy open platform, providing co-branded smart devices. Its partnership with Tencent is nonexclusive, and device makers charge only for hardware while WorkBuddy collects cloud-subscription fees.

iFlytek Co. Ltd.: iFlytek Co. Ltd. (科大讯飞股份有限公司) is a partner of Tencent's WorkBuddy platform, contributing co-branded smart devices as part of the initiative's hardware ecosystem.

ByteDance Ltd.: ByteDance Ltd. introduced Doubao Work in August to unify its workplace AI agents and linked it with its collaboration app Feishu, intensifying competition in China's enterprise AI market alongside Tencent's WorkBuddy and Alibaba's QwenWork.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.: Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is a Chinese technology company competing in the enterprise AI market. In August, it combined three tools into the enterprise agent QwenWork, similar to rivals' consolidation efforts, aiming to gain ground with workplace productivity tools.

Beisen Holding Ltd.: Beisen Holding Ltd. is a software partner of Tencent's WorkBuddy platform. Its vice president, Wang Yao, stated that Beisen's expert skills will remain on its own cloud infrastructure, with WorkBuddy serving only as a forwarding layer. This approach addresses data security concerns while integrating with Tencent's AI workplace ecosystem.

Ulanzi: Ulanzi (优篮子) is a hardware partner in Tencent's WorkBuddy open platform. Its CEO Zou Qing said device makers charge only for hardware, while WorkBuddy collects cloud-subscription fees, with no revenue-sharing between them. The partnership is nonexclusive.

Plaud: Plaud is a hardware partner of Tencent's WorkBuddy open platform. It is among the companies whose partnerships with Tencent are nonexclusive, meaning Plaud can work with other platforms. No further details about Plaud are provided in the article.

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