Chinese tech giant Tencent (0700.HK) on Thursday unveiled Hunyuan Turbo S, an artificial intelligence model that it claims can answer queries faster than DeepSeek’s R1.
The release signals growing competition among Chinese AI firms as DeepSeek’s rapid success pressures larger competitors.
Tencent stated that Turbo S responds to queries within a second, unlike “slow-thinking” models such as DeepSeek R1 and Hunyuan T1. It also said that Turbo S matches DeepSeek-V3 in knowledge, math, and reasoning performance.
DeepSeek-V3 powers DeepSeek’s AI chatbot, which has surpassed OpenAI’s ChatGPT in app store downloads.
The rise of DeepSeek’s AI models, which have gained traction in Silicon Valley, has led major Chinese firms to accelerate their AI development. Last month, Alibaba launched the Qwen 2.5-Max model, claiming it outperformed DeepSeek-V3 in multiple areas.
Tencent also noted that Turbo S has significantly lower usage costs than its previous AI models. DeepSeek’s open-source and low-pricing strategy has influenced other Chinese AI firms to adjust their pricing to remain competitive.
