Tencent is running limited internal tests of an AI assistant called Xiaowei inside WeChat, the everything-app that roughly 1.4 billion people use to message, pay bills, hail rides, and do just about everything else in digital life across China.
The feature, confirmed by official customer service channels on June 20, 2026, lets users interact through text and voice commands to send messages, make voice calls, and navigate WeChat’s sprawling ecosystem of mini-programs.
What Xiaowei actually does
Xiaowei acts as a command layer on top of WeChat’s ecosystem, letting users navigate mini-programs, initiate calls, and compose messages without manually digging through menus.
This isn’t Tencent’s first attempt at an AI assistant with this name. The original Xiaowei launched back in 2017 as a voice assistant, but the current version is purpose-built for controlling WeChat’s app functions rather than serving as a general-purpose voice tool.
