Google, Tencent Eye Collaboration on New Technologies

The Google logo is seen at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California November 13, 2015. REUTERS/Stephen Lam
The Google logo is seen at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California November 13, 2015. REUTERS/Stephen Lam
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Google, Tencent Eye Collaboration on New Technologies

The Google logo is seen at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California November 13, 2015. REUTERS/Stephen Lam
The Google logo is seen at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California November 13, 2015. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

Alphabet Inc's Google and Tencent Holdings Ltd on Friday signaled possible future collaboration on developing new technologies as the US and Chinese firms announced a long-term patent-sharing agreement.

The companies gave no details on the scope or nature of the potential cooperation but said in a joint statement that they "are open to deeper collaboration in the future on innovative new technologies".

"By working together on agreements such as this, tech companies can focus on building better products and services for their users," Google’s head of patents, Mike Lee, was quoted saying. 

Sam Xu, head of intellectual property at Tencent, added that the patent agreement would "advance the collaboration between two leading technology companies".

The US technology company has signed similar agreements before with Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Cisco Systems Inc, but the deal with Tencent is a first with a large Chinese tech firm.

Tencent oversees China's top social media and payments app, WeChat, which has close to a billion users. It also oversees one of the country's most popular app stores and hosts the country's biggest gaming and livestream platforms.

Any cooperation between the US search giant and China's all-conquering tech leader -- the world's second- and fifth-largest companies by market value, according to Bloomberg News -- is bound to generate buzz in the IT world.



Trump Offers Support to Musk's Car Company in a Surprising Post as Tesla Stock Plunges

Mar 22, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Elon Musk and President Donald Trump during the Division I Men's Wrestling Championship held at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images/File Photo
Mar 22, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Elon Musk and President Donald Trump during the Division I Men's Wrestling Championship held at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images/File Photo
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Trump Offers Support to Musk's Car Company in a Surprising Post as Tesla Stock Plunges

Mar 22, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Elon Musk and President Donald Trump during the Division I Men's Wrestling Championship held at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images/File Photo
Mar 22, 2025; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Elon Musk and President Donald Trump during the Division I Men's Wrestling Championship held at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images/File Photo

President Donald Trump took to social media Thursday morning to support Elon Musk's car company, a startling development given their bitter public feud.

”I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, Reuters reported.

The post wasn't enough to help Tesla's stock, which fell sharply after the company reported another quarter of lackluster financial results and Musk warned of some potentially “rough quarters” into next year. At midday, the stock was down around 9%.

Late Wednesday, Tesla said revenue fell 12% and profit dropped 16% in the April-June quarter. Many prospective buyers have been turned off by Musk’s foray into right-wing politics, and the competition has ramped up in key markets such as Europe and China.

Investors have been unnerved by Musk's social media spat with the president because Trump has threatened to retaliate by ending government contracts and breaks for Musk's various businesses, including Tesla.

But Trump struck a starkly different tone Thursday morning.

“Everyone is stating that I will destroy Elon’s companies by taking away some, if not all, of the large scale subsidies he receives from the US Government. This is not so!" Trump wrote. “The better they do, the better the USA does, and that’s good for all of us.”

After Trump's massive budget bill passed earlier this month, Tesla faces the loss of the $7,500 EV tax credit and stands to make much less money from selling regulatory credits to other automakers. Trump’s tariffs on countries including China and Mexico will also cost Tesla hundreds of millions of dollars, the company said on its earnings call.

Musk has blasted the budget bill on his own social media platform X for adding to US debt at a time when it is already too large. The Tesla CEO has called the budget pushed by the president a “disgusting abomination” and has threatened to form a new political party.

On Wednesday's call, Musk said the electric vehicle maker will face “a few rough quarters” as it moves into a future focused less on selling cars and more on offering people rides in self-driving cars. He also talked up the company's business making humanoid robotics. But he acknowledged those businesses are a ways off from contributing to Tesla’s bottom line.

Tesla began a rollout in June of its paid robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, and hopes to introduce the driverless cabs in several other cities soon. Musk told analysts that the service will be available to probably “half of the population of the US by the end of the year — that’s at least our goal, subject to regulatory approvals.”

“We’re in this weird transition period where we’ll lose a lot of incentives in the US,” Musk said, adding that Tesla “probably could have a few rough quarters” ahead. He added, though, “Once you get to autonomy at scale in the second half of next year, certainly by the end of next year, I would be surprised if Tesla’s economics are not very compelling.”