Tencent launches ¥3.6M prize pool contest

Tencent Holdings is hosting a high-stakes global algorithm competition — its first with a prize pool exceeding 3 million yuan (US$418,000) alongside direct job offers — to identify and recruit top graduates in artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithm development.

The Tencent headquarters building in Nanshan. File photo

Teams will compete for a grand prize of 2 million yuan, the Shenzhen-based company announced Monday. Runner-up teams will receive 600,000 yuan, the third-place team will be awarded 300,000 yuan, and teams placing fourth through tenth will each receive 100,000 yuan. All members of the top 10 teams will be guaranteed full-time positions at Tencent. Finalists may receive formal job offers, and semi-finalists will be offered internships.

The competition, hosted by Tencent’s advertising platform, challenges global talent teams to develop an algorithm for All-Modality Generative Recommendation, using a de-identified dataset from Tencent’s advertising business. The contest is powered by Tencent’s Angel Machine Learning Platform (AMLP), which provides the necessary computing resources and training and inference infrastructure. AMLP also supports the research and development of Tencent’s Hunyuan large language model (LLM) and its business applications.

Chart shows the competition’s prize distribution by placement. Created by: Shenzhen Daily

The event invites university students worldwide to address real-world AI challenges by developing models that predict users’ next likely ad interactions based on anonymized, multi-modal behavioral data.

AI contributed significantly to Tencent’s advertising revenue in the first quarter, with marketing services revenue increasing 20% year-over-year to 31.9 billion yuan, according to the company’s latest financial report.

In April, Tencent launched its largest-ever recruitment drive, aiming to add 28,000 internships over the next three years and improve conversion rates to full-time employment. According to Tencent’s hiring plans, 60% of this year’s internships are targeted at tech talent specializing in LLMs, algorithms, cloud computing, and other key areas.