Tencent Holdings (TCEHY) shares rose more than 5% in Hong Kong on Tuesday after the company introduced a new image-generation system, the Hy Image 3.5 Preview, as part of its push into consumer artificial intelligence.
Tencent integrates Hy Image 3.5 across products
The Hy Image 3.5 Preview model is being added to Tencent’s Yuanbao chatbot and to tools used for video editing and design, the company said, extending its AI capabilities beyond text. Tencent said the system improves on its previous version and is being positioned for use across its broader WeChat ecosystem, which serves more than one billion users.
Tencent has increased its focus on practical AI applications as competition among Chinese technology companies intensifies. The launch coincided with Alibaba Group (BABA) holding its annual AI conference, where Alibaba outlined plans for much larger AI models and introduced a new chip, underscoring growing rivalry as firms build domestic AI capabilities.
The company said Hy Image 3.5 Preview was tested internally by hundreds of designers. In those internal tests, Tencent reported the system performed around the level of ByteDance’s Seedream 5.0 Pro, while comparisons with competing models produced varying results.
