Tencent lets AI agent make purchases through WeChat Pay
Tencent Holdings Ltd. has integrated its desktop artificial intelligence agent into WeChat Pay, allowing it to search for deals, initiate purchases and complete transactions on users’ behalf within WeChat’s ecosystem. The integration with the in-house agent, WorkBuddy, was announced Wednesday and initially covers local lifestyle services such as group-buying on Meituan. Users can prompt the WorkBuddy personal computer client to find nearby dining deals. The agent generates recommendations based on location and preferences, initiates a payment from a dedicated AI card on WeChat Pay and awaits final confirmation from the user’s mobile phone, after which the deal can be redeemed in store. The move comes as Chinese tech giants race to embed AI agents into their ubiquitous super apps to streamline consumer services and dominate the next generation of digital gateways.
Crealights takes step closer to Hong Kong IPO
Chinese optical communication company Crealights Technology Co. Ltd. has passed its listing hearing with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, clearing a major hurdle for an IPO in the city. The exchange disclosed the company’s post-hearing information pack last week showing that Huatai International is acting as the sole sponsor for the deal. Crealights did not specify a timetable or how much it aims to raise in its IPO but said that it plans to invest the bulk of the proceeds in expanding production capacity for optical transceivers and other optoelectronic interconnection products and in research and development of new products and technologies.
Alibaba Cloud expands global footprint
Alibaba Cloud announced Wednesday at the VivaTech conference that it has opened new data centers in Paris, France and Johor, Malaysia, while expanding existing facilities in Japan and Mexico. The expansion aims to meet surging demand for artificial intelligence token processing in global markets. The move brings the company’s global infrastructure footprint to 32 regions and 105 availability zones.
Zhipu open-sources new AI model
Chinese artificial intelligence startup Zhipu launched and open-sourced its new GLM-5.2 large language model on Wednesday, featuring enhanced capabilities for long-context tasks and programming. The new model supports a 1-million-token context window and can complete complex software engineering workflows in a single task. It was adapted to computing platforms operated by domestic companies like Huawei and Cambricon.
