At Tencent's 2025 financial conference call held on March 18, Tencent's President Liu Zhicheng clearly stated the company's firm position in the field of artificial intelligence. He revealed that Tencent has already invested 18 billion yuan in R&D and development of AI new products in 2025, and this budget is expected to at least double in 2026.

Liu Zhicheng said that the confidence in increasing AI investment comes from the company's strong profitability:

  • Financial Performance: Tencent's total revenue for the whole year of 2025 reached 751.766 billion yuan, an increase of nearly 14% year-on-year; the net profit attributable to shareholders reached 224.842 billion yuan, an increase of about 16%.

  • Investment Logic: Strong and continuously growing core businesses provide sufficient cash flow support for long-term strategic investments such as AI.

The "Yuanbao" Results: The Spring Festival Red Envelope Battle Achieved Significant Success

Regarding the market competition of AI applications during the Spring Festival, Liu Zhicheng highly praised the performance of Tencent's AI assistant "Yuanbao":

  • Growth Exceeded Expectations: The promotion during the Spring Festival not only significantly increased user installations, but the final result even exceeded the official target.

  • Practical Exercise: This promotion was regarded as an important practical exercise, accumulating valuable experience for the continuous expansion of AI product market penetration in the future.

Data Overview: Key Indicators for the Fourth Quarter of 2025

  • Total Revenue: 194.37 billion yuan (up 13% year-on-year).

  • Net Profit: 58.26 billion yuan.

  • Adjusted Net Profit: 64.69 billion yuan (up 17% year-on-year).

Through doubled funding and the combination with a national-level application ecosystem, Tencent is trying to take the lead in the second half of the race for commercialization of large models.