Tencent returns to the search engine market, launching the Yuanbao standalone AI search.

Beating AI News, November 11 — Tencent has officially launched an independent search website "Yuanbao Search" (http://so.qq.com), directly targeting Baidu and Google. The site enables AI search by default, allowing users to input questions and receive complete answers with reference sources, as well as continue asking follow-up questions. It also retains traditional web search and provides dedicated search entries for WeChat Official Accounts, Video Accounts, images, and academic content.

Tencent has even begun directing Sogou traffic to Yuanbao. There are already cases where entering keywords in Sogou Search directly redirects to the Yuanbao search results page. The latest version of QQ Browser also supports setting Yuanbao Search as the search engine. Tencent is gradually connecting its existing search entries to Yuanbao.

Tencent's last direct challenge to Baidu dates back to 2006. At that time, Tencent launched "SOSO," invested substantial resources in developing its own search engine, and even recruited technical executives such as Wu Jun from Google. But it never managed to shake Baidu. In 2013, Tencent ultimately merged SOSO's search business into Sogou, while injecting $448 million to acquire a 36.5% stake in Sogou. In 2021, Tencent completed a full acquisition of Sogou.

Twenty years later, Tencent has chosen to fight again with AI. This time it has Sogou's search technology and traffic, as well as content resources from the WeChat ecosystem. Content such as Official Account articles and Video Accounts is difficult for Baidu to fully cover, but Tencent can directly provide the searchable portions of that content to search users.

Tencent began building Yuanbao AI Search in 2024, by which time it had already integrated WeChat Search and Sogou Search. In 2025, Tencent opened its search capabilities to enterprises and developers. In October this year, the service was officially renamed "Yuanbao Search," supporting API, MCP, and Skill integration. According to official data, Yuanbao Search already has a hundred-billion-level index and hundreds of millions of daily calls, supporting more than 50 internal businesses including Tencent Video, ima, and WorkBuddy.

SOSO in 2006 failed to defeat Baidu. In 2026, Tencent is preparing to use AI and the WeChat ecosystem to go after Baidu's search business once again.