China-based technology giant Tencent has revealed that it will invest around $70 billion over the next five years in AI, cloud computing and cybersecurity, the media reported.
Dowson Tong, senior executive vice president of Tencent, told state media in an interview that the investment will also span over other key sectors which include blockchain, servers, big data centres, supercomputer centres, internet of things operating systems, 5G networks and quantum computing.
Even though the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in losses for cloud businesses, Tencent believes the market will pick up and it expects to see greater adoption of enterprise software services from the public sector and offline industries.
Constellation Research analyst Holger Mueller told the media, “Tencent’s promised investment is remarkable not only because of its size, but also because it’s the first major post-pandemic commitment made by a major technology firm.”
“Capital infrastructure investment is critical for all cloud players, and Tencent is one of them,” Mueller said. “$70 billion is no small amount, and it is the first announcement of this type from China. Now, all eyes will be on what exactly Tencent is planning to do, though a regional expansion is likely at the top of its list.”
Tencent Cloud commanded an 18% share of China’s cloud computing market in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to data from research firm Canalys.
Earlier this month, Tencent launched its blockchain accelerator programme called Tencent Industrial Accelerator. In a press release, Tencent revealed that as a part of its blockchain accelerator programme, it will mentor 30 companies in three major areas of distributed ledger technology (DLT), including finance, logistics, supply chain, and more.