WizardLM Team Jumps to Tencent from Microsoft

Cansın Cengiz

Cansın Cengiz

— 2 min read

AI Talent Shift: WizardLM Team Departs Microsoft for Tencent

In a notable move within the artificial intelligence sector, the WizardLM team, an AI research group previously associated with Microsoft, has reportedly made the switch to Chinese tech conglomerate Tencent. This transition underscores Tencent's intensifying focus on AI and adds a new dimension to WizardLM's already eventful journey.

Who is WizardLM? A Look at Their Past

The Beijing-based WizardLM team is known for its contributions to large language models. The move was highlighted when Can Xu, a senior AI researcher who led several WizardLM projects, announced on X (formerly Twitter) that he and the team had joined Hunyuan, one of Tencent’s dedicated AI development organizations. Another figure, Qingfeng Sun, who identifies as a "co-founder" of WizardLM, has also been vocal about the team's new direction.

WizardLM's history includes a particularly memorable episode. In April 2024, while still under Microsoft, the team released WizardLM-2, a family of AI models they claimed could rival OpenAI’s GPT-4. However, these models were abruptly withdrawn just a day post-launch. The team stated this was due to an oversight in their release protocol, specifically, a missed "toxicity testing" phase. This sudden retraction caused significant disruption, particularly for the Hugging Face community, where the models had quickly gained traction and were integrated into numerous open-source projects.

New Beginnings at Tencent's Hunyuan

At Tencent, the WizardLM team is expected to leverage its expertise to further develop and release cutting-edge AI models under the Hunyuan banner. Demonstrating this new synergy, a Hunyuan-branded model, Hunyuan-TurboS0416, has already been unveiled. Qingfeng Sun, in an X post, asserted that this new model surpasses other "open" AI models, including Google’s Gemma 3 series.

Tencent’s Hunyuan division has been proactive in the AI space, releasing models for various applications, including video and 3D object generation. The incorporation of the WizardLM team is poised to significantly amplify these initiatives.

Tencent's Strategic AI Push

This acquisition of talent is a clear indicator of Tencent's ambition to be a dominant force in AI. The company recently overhauled its Hunyuan team, establishing new units and boosting investment in AI infrastructure. Tencent’s leadership has explicitly linked its 8% year-over-year growth in Q1 2025 to its strategic AI ventures. Furthermore, Tencent plans to channel approximately 90 billion yuan (roughly $12.49 billion) into capital expenditures this year, a substantial portion of which is earmarked for its AI endeavors.

While specifics like the exact number of researchers involved in the move or the precise date of their departure from Microsoft are yet to be fully disclosed, the overarching narrative is clear: Tencent is making bold moves to enhance its AI prowess, with WizardLM now a crucial part of that strategy.

Looking Ahead

The integration of WizardLM into Tencent's ecosystem is likely to spur the development of more sophisticated AI models, potentially reshaping the competitive dynamics of the global AI market. The innovations stemming from this collaboration will be closely watched, as they could influence a wide array of AI applications in the near future.

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