Tencent announced on Sunday that its Weixin messaging app, China's largest, is now allowing select users to search using DeepSeek's artificial intelligence model, as companies rush to collaborate with the AI startup that has gained global recognition.
In a beta test phase, Weixin is currently experimenting with access to DeepSeek for searches, Tencent informed Reuters via email.
The decision by the Chinese technology giant is significant as the integration of DeepSeek introduces an external AI platform, amidst intensive competition among tech companies to develop cutting-edge AI technologies.
Weixin leverages Tencent's exclusive Hunyuan-Large language model to enhance its AI search capabilities, a company spokesperson revealed.
According to a source familiar with the matter, Tencent is exploring the integration of various products with DeepSeek, including Tencent Cloud AI Code Assistant and Tencent Yuanbao, an additional AI assistant app.
Weixin is currently testing DeepSeek, which caters to domestic users, as opposed to its sister app WeChat, which is geared towards international users. Combined, the two platforms boasted 1.38 billion users by the end of September.
In a recent development that caused a stir in the AI industry, DeepSeek introduced a free AI assistant last month that claims to use less data and at a fraction of the cost of existing services, quickly surpassing its U.S. counterpart, ChatGPT, in downloads from Apple's App Store.
Noteworthy Chinese businesses are seizing the opportunity to leverage DeepSeek's potential breakthrough, with automaker Great Wall Motor and major telecommunications companies incorporating DeepSeek's AI model into their offerings.