Tencent¶

Tencent is one of the largest internet companies in China and is also one of the domestic enterprises that has invested heavily in the field of artificial intelligence. Tencent excels in natural language processing, computer vision, and speech recognition, with widespread applications in gaming, social networking, and smart finance.

Tencent's general-purpose LLM has yet to be revealed, but Tencent's CSIG (Cloud and Smart Industry Group) has disclosed progress on industry-specific LLMs, addressing some concerns and anxieties of industry clients.

Tencent is building a curated store for industry LLMs based on its Tencent Cloud TI platform, providing clients with a one-stop service for MaaS (Model-as-a-Service). Specifically, this is based on Tencent Cloud's previously released high-performance computing cluster HCC, its self-developed Starry Sky computing network architecture, and vector database technologies, along with the TI platform that includes data annotation, data training, and acceleration components, establishing a LLM platform tailored for vertical industries. Companies in vertical industries can select from this platform and then fine-tune the data to upgrade it into a proprietary LLM.

One reason behind the release of Tencent Cloud's industry LLMs is the urgent need for the enhancement of LLM technology to maintain existing clients and expand new ones, especially since competitors like Huawei Cloud, Baidu Cloud, and Alibaba Cloud are actively attracting customers with their respective LLM technologies. Although strategic caution is advisable, if tactical actions are slow, Tencent Cloud may become more passive in market expansion.

During last year's financial report, Tencent expressed its intention to improve the revenue margins of its cloud business, reduce loss-making projects, and pursue "high-quality" growth. According to data from an IDC report, in the public cloud IaaS + PaaS market share for the second half of 2022, Alibaba Cloud, which remained in first place, saw its market share decrease from 36.7% by 4.8% to 31.9%; Huawei Cloud increased its share from 10.8% by 1.3% to 12.1%, rising from third to second place; Tianyi Cloud increased from 8.9% by 1.4% to 10.3%, moving from fourth to third place; while Tencent Cloud's market share decreased from 11.1% by 1.2% to 9.9%, dropping from second to fourth place. In the context of increasingly fierce competition in the cloud computing market, Tencent has chosen to accelerate its efforts in industry LLMs while remaining cautious about general-purpose LLMs.