AUGUSTASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK8NEWSROOMCHINA'S AI STARTUPS GAIN BUSINESS TRACTION BEYOND LABSChinese AI companies--from startups to giants like Tencent--are rapidly gaining real-world business traction, contrasting with global trends of high burn rates.At the World AI Conference in Shanghai, Tencent's VP Wu Yongjian shared that their AI now resolves over 80 percent of online customer queries at Toyota's joint venture with FAW, doubling in effectiveness within six months. Implementation time has also dropped from three months to just two weeks. Tencent recently upgraded its Hunyuan AI model, and demand is growing for tools offering applied AI solutions.Zhou Yuxiang, CEO of Black Lake Technologies, noted a shift in hiring: "Before it was hard to get AI engineers, as they now pivot from model development to industry-specific AI applications." Black Lake supports small factories with production-enhancing AI tools amid a wave of FOMO among business owners.Meanwhile, open-source AI is gaining momentum. Z.ai undercut competitors like Moonshot's Kimi K2 and DeepSeek with a cost-efficient open-source model. Data has emerged as a critical foundation. DeepExi, which claims to produce "zero hallucination outputs," saw 88.3 percent revenue growth and is preparing for a Hong Kong IPO.Haitian Ruisheng, a major data labeling firm, works with ByteDance, Tencent, Amazon, and others, and reported over 61 percent H1 2025 revenue growth, with profits doubling. Their focus lies in education, healthcare, tourism, and robotics (embodied intelligence), with global expansion plans underway.Premier Li Qiang emphasized global AI cooperation, and Tencent is already offering virtual human avatars and AI developer platforms in Japan and Southeast Asia. ASIAN FIRM ABEAM GROWS GLOBAL FOOTPRINT VIA US EXPANSIONInternational consulting firms BearingPoint and ABeam Consulting have made a significant extension of their long-term strategic alliance, taking their combined presence to the Americas. The step is designed to deliver increased business transformation services in Europe, Asia, and now North and Latin America."These extended global capabilities will support smooth business transformation services throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas, with stronger digital transformation and global delivery capabilities," said Matthias Loebich, BearingPoint Managing Partner.The two companies, who have been in partnership since 2011, intend to set up Local Practices throughout the Americas and open Global Capability Centers in India, as well as Centers of Excellence in innovation and transformation in nearshore locations. The expansions will help accommodate the increasing demand for customized, cross-border consulting services.ABeam Consulting, which already operates offices in New York, Dallas, Chicago, and Los Angeles, and BearingPoint, with a base in Chicago, will also leverage BearingPoint's ties with Argentina-based Globant to deepen their footprint in Latin America, including Canada."We've been united in a trusted, long-term strategic alliance since 2011. This alliance has enabled both firms to extend our capabilities and client offerings in Europe and Asia." said LoebichTakahiro Yamada, CEO and President of ABeam Consulting, underscored the client-focus mission statement- "By strengthening our co-operation with BearingPoint and creating a new organizational setup, we will deliver customers across the globe really seamless and consistent high-value-added consulting services."The two companies collectively have more than 14,000 consultants and work together with world-leading technology partners, providing full-fledged, localized support for large-scale transformation projects. · ABeam Consulting expands into the Americas through strategic alliance with BearingPoint.· New Local Practices and Capability Centers to support global business transformation.· Partnership strengthens ABeam's presence in US, Canada, and Latin America.· Tencent's AI now resolves over 80 percent of customer service queries.· Chinese startups like Z.ai and DeepExi are scaling with open-source and industry-specific AI.· Data labeling firm Haitian Ruisheng saw over 61 percent revenue growth in H1 2025.
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