Tencent launched its latest image-generation model on September 22 and added it to Yuanbao and other design tools on the same day that Alibaba opened its AI conference.

The move expands Tencent’s AI push beyond text. ByteDance and Alibaba have each unveiled image tools aimed at rivaling leading international systems.

Yuanbao, Tencent’s AI assistant app, connects to content and services in the WeChat ecosystem.

The company said the Hy Image 3.5 Preview model improves on its predecessor and is being added to products including the Yuanbao chatbot, film-editing tools, and design software.

Tencent recently hired former OpenAI researchers Yao Shunyu and Tian Yonglong. Yao is now chief AI scientist, while Tian leads vision-language models under the Hunyuan team.

Tencent’s Hong Kong-listed shares rose more than 7%.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

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