Tencent Hires WizardLM Team from Microsoft AI

WizardLM Team Transitions to Tencent

The Beijing-based Microsoft AI research group, WizardLM, has reportedly moved to Tencent, a prominent Chinese technology company known for its ownership of WeChat and popular games such as PUBG Mobile.

Shift in Research Leadership

Can Xu, a senior AI researcher and leader of several projects within WizardLM, announced on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday that he and his team have departed Microsoft to join Hunyuan. Hunyuan represents one of Tencent’s dedicated AI development organizations.

Over recent months, Hunyuan has been actively releasing various AI models, including those capable of generating videos and 3D objects.

Hunyuan-Branded Model Release

WizardLM has already contributed to Hunyuan’s portfolio with the release of Hunyuan-TurboS 0416. Qingfeng Sun, identifying himself as a “co-founder” of WizardLM, stated via X that this model demonstrates superior performance compared to open-source AI models like Google’s Gemma 3 series.

Uncertainties Regarding Team Size and Departure Timing

The exact number of researchers currently associated with WizardLM, as well as the specific timeframe of their departure from Microsoft, remains unclear. Requests for comment have been directed to both Tencent and Microsoft.

WizardLM’s Past and Challenges

WizardLM possesses a somewhat unconventional history, having been established several years ago.

In April of the previous year, while operating under Microsoft, the team unveiled the WizardLM-2 family of AI models, asserting their competitiveness with OpenAI’s GPT-4. However, Microsoft swiftly removed WizardLM-2 from public access after only one day.

The reason cited was the lack of completed “toxicity testing” for the models.

Model Withdrawal and Community Impact

The WizardLM team explained on X on April 16, 2024, that a necessary step in the model release process – toxicity testing – had been inadvertently overlooked. They indicated their intention to complete the testing promptly and re-release the model as soon as feasible.

This withdrawal occurred too late to prevent users from re-uploading the original WizardLM-2 models, along with customized and fine-tuned versions.

Clément Delangue, CEO of Hugging Face, expressed concern on the AI development platform regarding Microsoft’s action. He noted that the removal of WizardLM models, including others, negatively impacted the Hugging Face community by disrupting numerous open-source projects.

Delangue highlighted that the models had been downloaded collectively over 100,000 times per month and apologized for the inconvenience, stating they were attempting to contact both the author and Microsoft to find a resolution.

Future Direction at Tencent

At Tencent, WizardLM is expected to continue its core activities: the development and release of AI models. Tencent recently reorganized its Hunyuan team, creating two new divisions and increasing investment in its AI infrastructure.

Tencent has attributed its 8% year-over-year growth in Q1 2025 to its investments in artificial intelligence. The company plans to allocate 90 billion yuan, approximately $12.49 billion, to capital expenditures this year, with a significant portion dedicated to advancing its AI initiatives.