Tencent releases new AI model, says replies faster than DeepSeek-R1

The success of DeepSeek’s R1 and V3 models has sent Chinese tech giants like Tencent scrambling to put out new versions of AI models

CHINESE tech giant Tencent on Thursday (Feb 27) released a new AI model that it says can answer queries faster than global hit DeepSeek’s R1, in the latest sign the startup’s domestic and overseas success is putting pressure on its larger competitors in China.

The Hunyuan Turbo S is able to reply to queries within a second, distinguishing itself “from DeepSeek R1, Hunyuan T1, and other slow thinking models that need to ‘think for a while before answering’”, Tencent said in a statement.

Tencent added that when tested on fields like knowledge, math, and reasoning, Turbo S’ capabilities matched DeepSeek-V3, which powers DeepSeek’s AI chatbot that has surpassed OpenAI’s ChatGPT in app store downloads.

DeepSeek did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The success of DeepSeek’s R1 and V3 models, which in a first for a Chinese firm have been widely praised and adopted across Silicon Valley, has sent Chinese tech giants like Tencent scrambling to put out new versions of AI models they began developing after the arrival of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022.

Last month, just days after DeepSeek-R1 shook the global tech order and triggered an AI stock sell-off outside China, e-commerce giant Alibaba released the Qwen 2.5-Max model, which it claimed outperforms DeepSeek-V3 across the board.

Tencent also said that the usage costs of the new Turbo S were many times cheaper than its previous iterations, highlighting how DeepSeek’s open-source and low-pricing strategy has forced other leading Chinese AI firms to charge users less. REUTERS

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