Marvis от Tencent: системный AI-агент для ПК набрал 300 тыс. DAU за два дня

Tencent unveiled Marvis at the WAIC forum in July 2025 — a system-level AI agent for PC that manages local files, hardware, and the browser, rather than functioning as a general-purpose chatbot. The product, built by Tencent's Yingyongbao team, launched on May 20, 2025, and within two days gained more than 300 thousand daily active users, with day-seven retention of around 54%.

How Marvis differs from general-purpose agents

Marvis's main difference is that it works at the system level: the agent already "sees" the user's device in advance — that is, which files and programs are on it, what they mean, and the browser action history. According to Marvis lead Cai Jiantao, of the agent's four components — perception, reasoning, planning, action — perception is the key one, and it's only possible at the system level. General-purpose agents like Codex, he notes, are forced to scan the entire disk "blindly" and often can't complete a task.

"Checking whether an agent's direction is right is simple: when a new large model comes out, are you happy or worried?

If half the agent's functions become unnecessary after an update, the direction was chosen wrong," — Lin Songtao, Tencent vice president.

This is reflected in real usage scenarios:

• Launch — May 20, 2025, a product by the Tencent Yingyongbao team (应用宝, an app store)
• DAU exceeded 300,000 in two days, day-seven retention — around 54%
• Scenarios: local files — 44%, PC hardware management — 28%, browser — 18%, apps — 16%, search — only ~6%
• The team's main metric is the number of tasks actually completed, not DAU or session count
• Partners — Microsoft and Intel; on Windows, the a3B model runs on less than 8 GB of video memory

Why Tencent isn't doing on-device for smartphones

Tencent deliberately decided against on-device AI on smartphones: a phone's memory and battery aren't enough for models with large parameter counts and complex tasks, explains Cai Jiantao. The team is betting on PC, Mini PC, and AI Box, and suggests using the phone as a remote control — commands are executed by the PC or a cloud container.

Marvis, together with the Hunyuan (混元) team, is preparing a cluster of on-device models: from mini translation models and multimodal vision models with 1–2 billion parameters up to AI Box-level models with 20–30 billion. According to Tencent, in partnership with Intel, the a3B model can run on Windows with less than 8 GB of video memory, and on Mac it works well with 32 GB of RAM.

How much Marvis earns

Marvis isn't monetized yet — at the current stage, Tencent isn't looking to charge for it. Users get a daily free token quota, meant to encourage them to complete real tasks. The reason is that China's pay-per-token ecosystem hasn't taken shape yet, admits Lin Songtao. Abroad, both the token economy and willingness to pay for tools are more mature, so Marvis considers the overseas market a priority. Intel and Microsoft have already expressed interest in cooperating, including outside China.

"Technological breakthroughs determine how fast AI moves, and the ability to create real value determines how far it goes," —

Lin Songtao, Tencent vice president, at the WAIC forum.

What this means

Marvis presents an alternative to the race among general-purpose chatbots: instead of competing on the "intelligence" of a cloud model, Tencent is building an on-device executor agent whose main metric is the number of tasks actually completed. If the bet pays off, system-level agents will become a standard part of PCs: according to Lin Songtao, computer makers are already discussing preinstalling Marvis.

Frequently asked questions

What is Marvis?

Marvis is a system-level AI agent from Tencent for PC, Mini PC, and AI Box. It manages local files, hardware, the browser, and apps, rather than functioning as a general-purpose chatbot. It launched on May 20, 2025, built by the Tencent Yingyongbao team.

Does Marvis work on smartphones?

Tencent deliberately isn't building an on-device version for phones because of memory and battery limitations. The smartphone is meant to be used as a remote control, while computation runs on a PC or in a cloud container.

How much does Marvis cost?

Marvis is free for now: users are given a daily free token quota. Tencent has postponed paid monetization since China's pay-per-token ecosystem hasn't taken shape yet.