Tencent and ByteDance dive deeper into AI agents amid Manus AI’s exit. At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, Tencent Cloud launched a dozen AI agents aimed at automating business and consumer tasks.
Tencent’s marketing AI agent handles workflows end to end — from consumer profiling to product selection, content creation, and campaign analysis. It’s designed to take over marketing work with minimal human input.
The company also rolled out CodeBuddy IDE, an AI coding assistant joining ByteDance’s Trae and Baidu’s Comate in the growing market for AI-powered coding helpers. Tencent updated its AI agent platform to let third-party developers build custom agents too. 
Tencent Cloud VP Wu Yunsheng said the push is about speeding up AI adoption and unlocking AI model value.
Crowds gather at WAIC in Shanghai on Monday. Photo: AFP
“The initiative is aimed at accelerating AI adoption – a move that Tencent Cloud vice-president Wu Yunsheng described as crucial for unlocking the value of AI models.”
The move fills the gap left by Manus AI, which shifted overseas due to geopolitical tensions. Tencent and peers are racing to stake their claim ahead in the AI agent arena.
