Tencent, Parent Company of WeChat, to Invest $70 billion into Blockchain, AI, Cybersecurity & More in Pursuit of New Infrastructure

Tencent, a massive Chinese conglomerate that also operates WeChat, is planning to invest $70 billion over the next five years. The money will go into “new infrastructure” including areas like artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cybersecurity, big-data and more. This is according to a report in Reuters that referenced Dowson Tong, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent – who was speaking to Chinese state media.

This new infrastructure strategy is being driven, in part, from the ongoing Coronavirus crisis. Tencent expects to see “accelerated cloud services and enterprise software adoption from offline industries and public sectors over the longer term.”

Tencent’s Fintech services include WeChat Pay and QQ Wallet. These services connect people with financial products and solutions, like payments, wealth management, online lending, and more. In many respects, Tencent’s pursuit of ubiquitous financial products is a vision for the future of all financial services. There when you need them but not obtrusive.

Regarding blockchain, Tencent says it is committed to expanding and deepening its uses and provides partners with blockchain infrastructure and industry solutions. In August 2018, under the guidance of the State Administration of Taxation, the Shenzhen Municipal Office of the State Administration of Taxation led the implementation of blockchain in the country, issuing the first blockchain e-receipt in Shenzhen.