Tencent is rapidly shifting its investment focus from traditional internet companies to Chinese artificial intelligence firms. It is investing in key companies across the Chinese AI ecosystem, from large language model (LLM) startups to AI chips and general-purpose AI agents, expanding its influence.

On July 27, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported that Tencent recently sold part of its stake in short-form platform Kuaishou, while joining a $3 billion funding round being pursued by Kuaishou's AI video generation service, Kling AI.

The industry interprets the moves as part of a strategy to reshape an investment portfolio that had been spread across games, e-commerce and consumer goods into an AI-focused one. Tencent has not issued an official position on the matter.

One of the areas Tencent is focusing on is LLM companies. Moonshot AI is among Tencent's early investments. Moonshot AI's latest model, Kimi K3, has drawn attention to the point that it is being described in the industry as another "DeepSeek moment". Moonshot AI is preparing a Hong Kong initial public offering and is reportedly planning to complete a new fundraising based on a valuation of $30 billion by early next month.

Investment in DeepSeek is also expanding. Tencent took part in DeepSeek's $7 billion Series A funding round in June, when DeepSeek was valued at about $60 billion. Tencent's investment is said to have been about 10 billion yuan, or about $1.47 billion. DeepSeek is now seeking additional funding based on a valuation of about $70 billion and is also considering a listing on Shanghai's Star Market.

Tencent has also continued investing in general-purpose AI agent company Manus. After Meta Platforms' planned $2 billion acquisition fell through in April, existing investors have been seeking to increase their stake in the operator, Butterfly Effect. Tencent is also reportedly considering becoming the largest outside shareholder following its first investment in 2024.

Early investment results are also becoming visible. Tencent invested 200 million yuan in the Series B4 round of Beijing-based AI company Zhipu AI in 2024 and now holds a 1.58 percent stake. It also invested in another AI startup, MiniMax, from the Series A stage and currently holds a 2.58 percent stake.

Shares of both companies rose sharply after their Hong Kong listings. As of July 27, Zhipu AI was up more than 1,000 percent from its offering price, while MiniMax was up more than 130 percent.

In AI semiconductors, Tencent's stake in Enflame Technology is particularly large. Tencent is the largest outside shareholder with a 20.26 percent stake and is also the biggest customer. According to the company's prospectus, Tencent accounted for 84 percent of Enflame's total revenue in 2025. Enflame is considered one of the four "little dragons" in China's AI semiconductor industry and recently received approval for a listing on Shanghai's Star Market.

Tencent has also invested in photonic chip company Lightelligence. Tencent holds a 3.56 percent stake in Lightelligence, which became the first Chinese photonic chip company to list in Hong Kong. Its shares have risen about 170 percent since the listing in April, according to a tally.

The industry says Tencent's recent moves are not limited to simple financial investment. It is deploying large sums into AI model developers, while building both equity stakes and customer relationships with AI chip companies, expanding its influence across the ecosystem.

The market sees Tencent as further strengthening its strategic position across China's AI industry by linking generative AI models, AI agents and semiconductors into a single investment axis.