China’s Tencent pledges new wave of AI investment to build on 2025 profit jump

Tencent Holdings pledged to double its investment in artificial intelligence products and models in 2026, a bigger bet from the tech giant as it gains greater confidence in the technology’s capability to drive future growth across its businesses.The Shenzhen-based company dedicated 18 billion yuan (US$2.6 billion) to the development of new AI products in 2025, including 7 billion yuan in the fourth quarter alone, said Tencent president Martin Lau Chi-ping at a media briefing on Wednesday.“We will at least double the amount of investment this year,” Lau said.The outlays would unlock new opportunities for Tencent’s existing core businesses, supported by the company’s strong profit performance, Lau added.Lau’s remarks came shortly after Tencent reported a 17 per cent jump in net income to reach 64.7 billion yuan in the fourth quarter of 2025, an increase largely in line with analyst expectations. Total sales reached 194.4 billion yuan for the quarter, a year-on-year increase of 13 per cent.The quarterly performance contributed to a profit of 259.6 billion yuan for the company in 2025, 17 per cent higher than the year before, while annual sales grew 14 per cent to 751.8 billion yuan, hewing close to analysts’ estimates.