To improve search capabilities, Tencent's Weixin, the biggest messaging app in China, has started beta testing the DeepSeek AI model.

This move is noteworthy as it shows that Tencent is working with an outside AI platform in the face of growing competition in the field of developing AI technology.

According to Tencent's statement to Reuters, Weixin is testing DeepSeek search access in a beta test.

Weixin enhances its AI search engine using Tencent's exclusive Hunyuan large language model.

Tencent is investigating the possibility of integrating other products with DeepSeek, such as Tencent Yuanbao, another AI assistant app, and Tencent Cloud AI Code Assistant.

Weixin, which caters to domestic users rather than its other app WeChat, which targets users in other countries, is testing DeepSeek. By the end of September, there were 1.38 billion users across the two platforms.

Additionally, Baidu announced that it would completely integrate its proprietary Ernie big language model and DeepSeek with its search engine.

With the release of a free AI assistant last month that claims to consume less data and cost a fraction of what established providers do, DeepSeek completely upended the AI industry. It swiftly surpassed ChatGPT, a competitor in the US, in terms of downloads from the Apple App Store.

Leading telecom providers and manufacturer Great Wall Motor are among the Chinese businesses attempting to leverage DeepSeek's potential innovation by incorporating the AI model that DeepSeek released into their products.