Tencent's AI assistant, "Tencent Yuanbao," has surged ahead of DeepSeek in the China App Store's free app download rankings, securing the top spot.

This achievement has garnered significant media attention.

Tencent Yuanbao's rapid ascension, overtaking DeepSeek in such a short span, is indeed noteworthy.

It not only underscores Tencent Yuanbao's leading position among internet players but also highlights Tencent's late-mover advantage in the AI race as a tech giant.

Whether through an initial full integration with DeepSeek or a subsequent deep integration, Tencent's ambitions in AI are evident.

Facts have shown that, with the support of DeepSeek, Tencent has turned the tables and firmly established itself as a frontrunner in the AI landscape.

For Tencent, maintaining a positive interaction with DeepSeek could significantly impact its next steps in the AI race.

Tencent Yuanbao's success in surpassing DeepSeek, aided by the latter, can be described as a "back-road strategy."

In a sense, Tencent Yuanbao not only leveraged DeepSeek's back road but also outmaneuvered other players in the AI race.

Tencent is employing its tried-and-true methods to pen a new chapter in the era of AI.

I

Tencent has always approached AI with considerable restraint, much like Apple's approach to innovation.

Tencent's restraint is not stagnation but a strategic choice to achieve maximum results through cost-effective innovation.

This becomes evident from Tencent's AI strategy.

As the AI wave swept through the internet industry, almost all players recognized the necessity of AI integration.

From building the foundation for large models to implementing and applying their surface layers, AI was a topic on every player's agenda.

Unlike others who fully embraced AI, Tencent maintained a restrained stance, focusing on revitalizing its traditional businesses with AI.

This is evident in Tencent's AI applications in advertising and TO B businesses.

Facts have proven Tencent's approach correct, fostering new growth and bringing about internal and external changes in gaming, advertising, fintech, and education.

Tencent Yuanbao's surpassing of DeepSeek through full integration vividly demonstrates this point.

In essence, Tencent is using DeepSeek to revitalize Tencent Yuanbao and establish a dominant position in the large model landscape.

For Tencent, AI is more about empowering its businesses and applications rather than treating it as a separate field disconnected from its core operations.

This differentiates Tencent from other players and could be the key to its sustained competitive advantage.

II

Tencent's "fast iteration with small steps" approach has proven correct.

While the potential of AI has become increasingly clear, building a complete business loop, especially achieving a paradigm shift, remains uncertain.

Even AI pioneers like OpenAI, Google, and Baidu haven't found a sustainable business model, with the paid model still prevailing.

DeepSeek's emergence, especially its open-source approach, revealed that AI's business loop lies not in AI itself but in its application in specific scenarios and industries.

This explains why OpenAI and Baidu announced open-source and free access post-DeepSeek.

Recognizing the immaturity of the AI business model and the incomplete business paradigm, Tencent maintained restraint.

While others embraced AI fully and claimed to have found its business model, Tencent waited patiently.

With DeepSeek's rise and increasing integration into various applications and scenarios, Tencent became more confident in its AI judgment.

AI cannot thrive solely on large models but needs to be applied in diverse scenarios to unlock new potential and business loops.

Tencent wasn't the first to see AI's potential but was the first to envision a complete AI commercialization model.

This enabled it to establish a leading position in the new AI direction swiftly post-DeepSeek.

Tencent's approach can be summarized as a complete overtaking in the AI corner, establishing a positive interaction with DeepSeek by integrating its rich business scenarios.

This could lead to a comprehensive transformation of more businesses and applications due to DeepSeek, beyond just the rise of apps like Tencent Yuanbao.

This is the right perspective to view Tencent Yuanbao's download volume surpassing DeepSeek.

III

DeepSeek's emergence disrupted the previous AI paradigm, challenging both compute-centric thinking and C-end-dominated business models.

Increasing evidence shows that AI thrives not by harvesting C-end traffic but by empowering B-end and facilitating its transformation to attract C-end traffic.

Viewing Tencent Yuanbao as a B-end twin born within the Tencent ecosystem, its integration with DeepSeek enabled transformation and upgrade, ultimately attracting C-end traffic.

Tencent Yuanbao's significant download growth in a short period underscores this.

By doing what previous AI players shied away from, Tencent Yuanbao found a suitable business loop for AI.

In this sense, Tencent Yuanbao also outmaneuvered other large model players.

If DeepSeek is a watershed, one side represents the C-end-focused development model, and the other, the B-end-ultimate pursuit model.

Unlike the C-end model's lack of imagination and progress, the B-end model is more imaginative and easier to advance, as evidenced by Tencent Yuanbao's rapid growth.

One reason for Tencent Yuanbao's success is finding an AI-compatible business model and leveraging its accumulated strength for a breakthrough.

This breakthrough filled gaps in Tencent's AI layout, enabling a counterattack with DeepSeek's help, positioning it at the AI race's forefront.

Deeply analyzing, Tencent saw DeepSeek's significance as a watershed, using its AI understanding to "feed" business scenarios into DeepSeek, fostering ecosystem and business prosperity. This was key to its counterattack.

Conclusion

Tencent Yuanbao surpassing DeepSeek's download volume signifies more than just overtaking; it establishes Tencent Yuanbao's position among AI players.

In a sense, Tencent Yuanbao has come from behind to lead.

Though not the earliest entrant, Tencent Yuanbao's success in leveraging DeepSeek for a turnaround is unparalleled.

This is the reward for Tencent's restrained AI strategy.

As a C-end-focused app "feeding" DeepSeek, Tencent Yuanbao's leading scale has symbolic significance, indicating improved synergy with DeepSeek and a new cycle in Tencent's AI layout.