GUANGZHOU - Chinese internet giant Tencent has vowed to ramp up all-round AI investments and further expand its overseas commitments, a company announcement revealed on Friday at the Tencent Global Digital Ecosystem Summit held in the city of Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province.
In the first quarter of 2025, Tencent's R&D investment surged by 21 percent year on year to 18.9 billion yuan (about $2.63 billion), as the company upgraded its comprehensive AI ecosystem, spanning foundational large models, computing power, development tools and applications, said Tong Taosang, senior executive vice-president of Tencent.
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In terms of computing power, Tencent has established data centers in Guangzhou, Qingyuan, Shaoguan and other locations across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, providing foundational computing support for industrial upgrading.
Tencent Vice-President Li Qiang said that as a globally expanding cloud computing provider, Tencent Cloud had maintained double-digit growth in terms of its international business over the past three years -- serving over 10,000 overseas customers across more than 80 countries and regions.
This year, Tencent will further expand its overseas investments. It plans to invest $150 million in the Middle East to establish its first data center in Saudi Arabia, and invest $500 million in Indonesia to build its third data center in that country.
Tencent's revenue for 2024 increased 8 percent year-on-year to reach 660.3 billion yuan -- with its gross profit and operating profit rising 19 percent and 24 percent, respectively.
AI technology played a crucial role in driving Tencent's business innovation and fueling its high-quality growth throughout the year, according to the company's financial results released in March.
