Tencent's 28th Anniversary Meeting Revisits AI Crisis: Half to Maintain Legacy Businesses, Half to Pursue AI-Native Endeavors

Beating AI News, November 11 — At an internal all-hands meeting marking Tencent's 28th anniversary, Pony Ma called for accelerating organizational transformation. He believes Tencent's transition is already somewhat late, and the company can no longer leisurely assume it is safe.

Pony Ma used the analogy of army and navy: traditional core businesses such as gaming and social media must be defended, but AI must be used to improve efficiency. For example, tasks that previously required everyone to do could in the future be completed by half the people, freeing up the other half to explore AI-native businesses and find new growth drivers.

Pony Ma's sense of crisis regarding AI actually showed signs earlier. In January this year, he emphasized that Tencent's AI deployment should be steady and methodical, with its own rhythm. In May, he used another analogy about boarding a ship: he originally thought Tencent had already secured a ticket for the AI ship, but later discovered the ship was leaking and had to switch to another one.

This time he specifically mentioned Google. Initially everyone worried that AI would disrupt search, but later felt Google seemed able to hold up. Looking at it again this year, he believes "the wave has truly already crashed over," and traditional businesses such as content cannot assume they are safe either.

Google's search advertising revenue still grew 12% in the third quarter this year, but the growth rate has continuously declined from 19% in the first quarter and 17% in the second quarter. Google management acknowledged that AI Mode's monetization capability is relatively weak and is one of the factors slowing revenue growth. AI is generating more and more search volume, but each individual search may not be as profitable as traditional search.

Tencent happened to launch "Yuanbao Search" on the day of its 28th anniversary, rebuilding the search process with large models, integrating content from WeChat Official Accounts, Video Accounts, and more, to re-compete for the search entry point in the AI era.

Pony Ma also delivered many stern words to internal management this time.

Tencent has long been recognized by many employees for its good benefits and relatively relaxed working environment. But Pony Ma said bluntly this time that organizational transformation can no longer be like the past, where employees had to be coaxed, repeatedly persuaded, and negotiated with. Some people even demanded to first confirm whether they would get a management position before agreeing to participate in new businesses. He demanded a flatter organization, and employees must quickly convert their skills and adapt to new positions.

He also made clear that this reform is different from the "cost reduction and efficiency improvement" of a few years ago. At that time, the focus was mainly on cutting costs; now it is about changing the way the organization and personnel work, running faster with existing manpower, and enabling small teams to accomplish big things.

The speech quickly caused a stir in employee communities. Rumors such as "Tencent layoffs of 50%" and "layoffs of 8,000 people" appeared on platforms including Maimai and Xiaohongshu. Tencent PR Director Zhang Jun subsequently clarified that the so-called 50% was merely Pony Ma's metaphor for organizational transformation, not a layoff ratio, and that there was no announcement of cutting half the workforce.