We’re on a quest to innovate and address challenges for business, consumers, and society. As of September 2024, our total number of patent applications published exceeded 82,000, with the number of patent grants exceeding 43,000. Those numbers hold great stories: models that interpret panda behavior, AI training that prioritizes people-centric data. Read on for seven recent highlights.

Innovating for the planet

1. Pandas enjoy tech support

Panda bears are unbeatably cute. A symbol of friendship in China, the black-and-white bamboo lovers are an important umbrella species whose presence is a sign of a healthy ecosystem. But these beloved bears are at risk of extinction due to habitat loss and low birth rates. Only about 1,800 remain in the wild. As a result, breeding centers play a key role in panda conservation.

To assist, we have co-developed a real-time panda behavior recognition model using AI to monitor activities like eating, drinking and sleeping. The model generates regular reports to track health and well-being, helping breeding centers to improve care and reproduction efforts. Tencent Cloud provides the project team with end-to-end technical and platform support, including underlying computing power, data tagging, and model training. Panda protection has never been more high tech.

Innovating for society

2. LLMs learn to be inclusive 

By improving customer support and the accuracy of medical diagnoses, large language models are showing promise for both business and society. One challenge: ensure the data used to generate responses represents the population as a whole.

To address the issue, we have co-launched the AI for Good Corpus Initiative. It promotes the use of training data that accounts for groups such as the elderly, people with disabilities, vulnerable women, disadvantaged children, and low-income individuals. Work like this helps ensure that AI solutions deliver positive impact for all members of society.

3. A smart city models efficiency and savvy design

Smart cities use digital technology and data to make the lives of residents and businesses easier, safer and greener. Leading the way is Shenzhen, in southern China, the home of Tencent’s global headquarters. Shenzhen recently received the coveted City Award at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Spain, ahead of more than 400 candidates from 64 countries and regions.

Shenzhen’s innovative urban design incorporates “digital twins” that efficiently manage complex services such as water, waste, traffic control, and disaster planning. The city also provides residents and businesses with impeccable internet — fast, reliable and secure — ensuring seamless connectivity. Shenzhen also consolidates a wide range of services and resources into a single app that covers everything from healthcare and education to licences, registrations and tourism. The internet products, technology, and ecosystems have contributed to building a more accessible and inclusive society.

4. An award opens doors for young scientists

Tencent’s Xplorer Prize was set up in 2019 to encourage and support young scientists to engage in cutting-edge technology research that benefits humanity. This year, 49 scientists from 28 institutions in 13 cities were selected, with a third of these institutions featuring winners for the first time.

Each awardee will receive US$420,000 (RMB 3 million) in funding over five years to undertake groundbreaking research in fields including quantum computing and RNA biology. Since its inception the Xplorer Prize has supported 297 young scientists, with a total of US$138 million (RMB 1 billion) committed to help secure the future of scientific innovation.

Innovating for business

5. Digital twins drive smart transportation

Efficient transportation is critical for functioning cities and economic growth, but traffic, network complexity and safety are daunting. Digital twins are revolutionizing how we tackle such challenges by allowing us to build, study and test replicas of real-world systems.

Tencent is at the forefront of this innovation, drawing on our expertise in AI, cloud computing and gaming simulations. We’re also taking the lead in developing international standards for the integration of digital twins into intelligent transportation systems, facilitating the adoption of sustainable urban solutions.

6. AI tools get more accessible

Large language models have made significant progress in areas such as natural language processing, computer vision, and scientific tasks. They can also be expensive to run. We have introduced two new models to address these pain points.

The MoE Model, Hunyuan Large, tackles the challenge of high operational costs in AI models. With 389 billion parameters, including 52 billion activated during use, this model achieves high performance at a significantly reduced inference cost compared to the Dense models, making the widespread adoption of advanced AI tools easier.

For 3D creators, the process of producing assets is often time-intensive and resource-heavy. Our Hunyuan3D-1.0 model automates 3D asset production, streamlining workflow and letting designers and developers focus on creativity and innovation rather than repetitive tasks.

Both models are available to download for free on developer-friendly platforms like HuggingFace and GitHub.

7. Full-stack cloud solutions foster efficient operation

In a fast-evolving digital world, industries from finance to healthcare face growing challenges in managing data, integrating systems and adopting AI technologies. Tencent Cloud’s Full-Stack Integrated Innovation Product System is designed to solve these challenges using its 5T foundational software.

The system’s components ensure seamless compatibility, scalability, security, and unified data management across different software and hardware ecosystems. The goal: for businesses to operate efficiently, innovate confidently and drive sustainable growth.