DeepSeek continues to rule tech-related news in China. Partly due to the fear of missing out (FOMO) and the actual need for AI functions, from tech giants Baidu to automakers BYD, more businesses are deploying the homegrown AI model by the day. Now, WeChat, the most-used app in China, has been added to that list.
On 17 February, it was reported that Tencent’s WeChat had deployed DeepSeek AI with its AI search function, including “quick answer” and “deep think” modes. It was quickly confirmed by Tencent that the deployment of DeepSeek AI in the unofficial “national app” was in the grey box testing phase. This caused Tencent share prices to soar in Hong Kong. It was up 8% to over 510 HKD (65.55 USD) per share, before stabilising at 493.60 HKD (63.44 USD) per share.
The topic “WeChat and DeepSeek trump card combo” (#微信DeepSeek王炸组合#) swiftly topped the Hot Search list on WeChat with a whopping 170 million views on Weibo, China’s Twitter equivalent. Similarly, the hashtag “Tencent market value surges 300 billion RMB (41.36 billion USD)” (#腾讯市值暴涨3000亿) topped the Hot Spot list on Rednote with 9.21 million views on the platform and ranked number 6 on Weibo’s Hot Search list with 67.42 million views on Weibo.
As of Q3 2024, WeChat boasts 1.38 billion users. With this user base, many pundits believe DeepSeek will democratise AI and make AI-assisted searches available to all. When asked about its proprietary Hunyuan model, which was introduced to WeChat last year with underwhelming results, Tencent stated that the decision is to provide the best AI experience. What Tencent plans to do with the AI search function in its WeChat ecosystem is more important.
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