For years, Liu Wei was synonymous with Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings’ artificial intelligence efforts. A distinguished scientist at the Shenzhen-based company, Liu was also head of its Hunyuan team, the firm’s foundational model development unit for the generative AI era. But in late 2024, Liu’s departure from Tencent after more than eight years sparked immediate speculation as to why he left. Hunyuan was introduced only a year earlier – so why did Liu suddenly quit one of China’s most...