Tencent cloud chief Dowson Tong proposes AI strategy overhaul centered on businesses

After the company's founder called its AI effort a leaky ship, Tencent's cloud boss is betting on enterprise tools over headline-grabbing models Tencent built one of the most dominant consumer franchises in tech history with WeChat. Then the post-ChatGPT era arrived, and the company found itself chasing rivals like DeepSeek instead of setting the pace. This summer, Tencent’s billionaire founder reportedly described the company’s AI effort as “a leaky ship.” One of his key lieutenants has now pitched a fix. Dowson Tong, CEO of Tencent Cloud and Smart Industries Group, wants the company to retool its AI push around businesses rather than trying to win a race for the biggest foundational model. The marathon pitch Tong laid out his thinking during a fireside chat on June 5, then expanded on it in an internal publication. His central framing: AI is a “marathon,” not a sprint. Instead of measuring success by benchmark scores on one flagship model, Tong argues for scenario-driven applications and strong engineering execution. He is also pushing a multi-model approach on Tencent Cloud. Customers get to choose among models rather than being locked into a single in-house option, with opennes...