Yao Shunyu: The Moat of AI Companies Lies in the Product Layer, Not the Model Layer
On November 8, during a dialogue at the 2026 Future Science Prize, Tencent's Chief AI Scientist Yao Shunyu responded to a question from Zhang Yaqin by stating that AI's competitive moat lies more in the product layer than the model layer. He argued that what is truly difficult to replace are products that understand user context, possess proprietary data, and have earned user trust. He used WeChat as an example and also mentioned a related jest from Zhang Yaqin.
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Yao Shunyu: The Moat of AI Companies Lies in the Product Layer, Not the Model Layer
On November 8, during a conversation at the 2026 Future Science Prize, Tencent's Chief AI Scientist Yao Shunyu responded to a question from Zhang Yaqin by stating that the moat for AI companies is more about the product layer than the model layer. What is truly difficult to replace are products that understand user context, possess proprietary data, and have earned user trust.
He used WeChat as an example: if AI were integrated into WeChat, it would have access to users' schedules and social connections, making it difficult for competitors with more advanced models to offer the same service. Zhang Yaqin then joked that, by this logic, Anthropic might not be worth two trillion dollars in the future.
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