Tencent's Pony Ma Pledges to Redeploy Half of 100,000 Staff to AI-Native Businesses

In his 28th anniversary speech, Tencent founder Pony Ma said he will redeploy half of the company's roughly 100,000 employees to AI-native businesses, using an army-and-navy metaphor: the 'army' of core businesses must leverage AI for efficiency while 50% of personnel move to the 'navy' to build AI-native products. False rumors of mass layoffs spread on Chinese social media after the speech; Tencent has not disclosed timing, which units are affected, or new capex targets.