Chinese tech firm Tencent posted quarterly net profit Wednesday that was short of expectations, as the gaming and advertising giant looks to monetise its heavy investment in artificial intelligence.
Shenzhen-based Tencent is the developer and operator of China's multifunctional app WeChat, and has also emerged in recent years as one of the country's top AI players.
WeChat users and company observers are awaiting the potential release of an AI agent embedded directly in the app, which is used by more than a billion people.
Tencent's net profit during the second quarter of 2026 was 56 billion yuan ($8.3 billion), up 0.7 percent year-on-year, according to a filing posted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange website.
The figure represented a four-percent fall from the first quarter, also missing a Bloomberg forecast of 58.4 billion yuan.
In a more positive sign for the firm, revenue jumped 11 percent during the period to total 204.8 billion yuan, the filing showed.
That figure was slightly higher than estimated by the Bloomberg forecast.
"We are making substantial progress towards building a new, AI-empowered Tencent in terms of intelligence, applications, and infrastructure," the firm said in the filing.
Tencent, which owns the developer of popular eSports titles including "League of Legends", has sizeable operations in other areas from cloud computing to entertainment.
The firm, along with fellow Chinese tech titans Baidu and Alibaba, has stepped up spending on AI products in recent years.
Founder Pony Ma earlier this year likened Tencent's previous AI efforts to a "leaky" ship, adding: "We still hope the ship can sail faster."
Tencent is also reportedly in discussions to retake stakes in AI startup Manus as the largest shareholder.
Manus said Tuesday it would resume independent operations, months after Beijing blocked Meta's acquisition of the Chinese-developed, Singapore-based firm.
Tencent has also been among the Chinese tech giants racing to take advantage of a surge in interest in the country in OpenClaw -- an AI agent platform created by an Austrian programmer.
Tencent and others are offering simplified installation and affordable coding plans to help users host OpenClaw agents on cloud servers.
Latest stories
Bildergalerie Bunte Fahnen
In der Altstadt von Delhi befestigen Arbeiter im Vorfeld der Feierlichkeiten zum indischen Unabhängigkeitstag am 15. August an den Stangen...
Bildergalerie Werftarbeiter
Ein Mann arbeitet in einer Werft in Ibrahim Hyderi am Stadtrand von Karatschi (Pakistan) an...
Sports Flag-Football-WM: Deutsche Teams "greifen nach den Sternen"
Die deutschen Flag-Football-Nationalmannschaften wollen sich bei der anstehende Weltmeisterschaft in Düsseldorf für die olympischen Spiele qualifizieren. "Ich bin nicht hier, um zu verlieren", betonte Wide Receiver Justin Schlesinger im Vorfeld des am Donnerstag beginnenden Kontinentalvergleichs. "Wir haben eine starke Gruppe erwischt und eine sehr lange...