Tencent invests in new AI lab founded by former head of Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen, with initial funding round reaching hundreds of millions of dollars

Odaily reported that the new AI lab founded by Lin Junyang, former core head of Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen, has completed its initial funding round, raising a total of several hundred million US dollars with a post-investment valuation of approximately $2 billion. Sequoia Capital China and Gaorong Capital each led the round with $100 million investments, while Tencent participated with a $20 million investment. Lin Junyang left in March this year due to disagreements over team restructuring. The project has now initiated preparations for a new funding round. Tencent, which is intensifying its AI layout, has previously invested in multiple local large-model enterprises and is also currently participating in the latest funding round of DeepSeek. (The Information)