Chinese IT giant Tencent says it has launched its generative artificial intelligence model for business use. This comes amid intensifying competition in AI development among China's tech firms.

Tencent, which operates the WeChat social media platform, says it started offering its AI model on Thursday.

The company says its model can respond to queries in Chinese and English in a conversational manner. It adds that the model can write long texts and solve certain math problems "better" than the similar AI program ChatGPT developed by US firm OpenAI.

Tencent's announcement comes after China's largest web search provider Baidu released its generative AI chatbot to the public last week.

Tencent's AI model is grabbing attention amid strict government regulations on generative AI. The company had to suspend its AI chatbots in 2017 after they apparently criticized the Chinese Communist Party.