WeChat AI Assistant Xiaowei, there are still many things it cannot do | Product Observation

Text | Wang Yuchan

Editor | Zhang Yuxin

WeChat's AI assistant, "Xiaowei," is currently in a limited beta test, and 36Kr's Intelligence Emergence has obtained the first batch of test qualifications.

Let's start with the conclusion: For some simple operations, Xiaowei doesn't perform as well; for some complex operations, Xiaowei performs relatively better.

Xiaowei's entrance

Xiaowei's services are mainly based on WeChat's self-developed model, WeLM, and some answers may call on DeepSeek for processing. The main entrance is in the upper-left corner of the WeChat home page. The default interaction method is voice-to-text, and you can also directly type manually.

Xiaowei will enable memory ability, personalized services, and authorization to help improve the model's effectiveness by default. Users can also manually choose to turn them off on the "Memory and Privacy" interface.

This still-beta AI assistant has integrated WeChat's basic functions such as mini-programs, WeChat chats, Moments, official accounts, video channels, and WeChat stores. However, there are still many things it can't do. For example, it can read your Moments content but can't directly help you post in the Moments; it can read your WeChat chat content, but it can only read one message at a time.

Xiaowei is designed in a typical WeChat style, which is simple, easy to use, and cautious. In some scenarios that may involve a trust crisis, it would rather take a step back.

In March this year, 36Kr exclusively learned that WeChat's internal executives summarized several trends for WeChat's entry into the AI field at an internal executive meeting in December 2025:

First, WeChat must have built-in AI tools that do not rely on third-party systems.

Second, WeChat essentially consists of three parts: social interaction between people, information acquisition, and efficiency tools. Among them, social relationships themselves cannot be replaced by AI. The role of AI can only occur at the information and efficiency levels.

In the past two days (June 22nd and June 23rd), Tencent Holdings (00700.HK) in the Hong Kong stock market generally continued its weak and volatile trend and accelerated its decline. On June 23rd, Tencent's total market value officially fell below the HK$4 trillion mark.

Things Xiaowei Can't Do

1. Xiaowei cannot directly complete any projects involving the payment process.

Xiaowei cannot make direct payments

Xiaowei's interface for sending red envelopes on behalf

After confirming the sending, you need to manually enter the payment password

2. It can't help you directly post in the Moments or video channels.

It can't post in the Moments on your behalf, only generate copywriting

It can't post in the video channels on your behalf

3. It can't help you check if a certain friend has sent you a message.

It can't check if a certain friend has replied to your message

4. It can't help you send messages at a scheduled time.

It can't send messages with a delay, only set reminders

5. When ordering takeaways, it can only operate mini-programs, and the operation process is relatively cumbersome, involving multiple confirmation processes, which is much slower than ordering manually by yourself.

The process of ordering takeaways is not smooth

Things Xiaowei Can Do, but Maybe with Conditions

1. It can help you send messages and make calls to corresponding friends, but you also need to click on the card to confirm and cannot complete it in one instruction.

You still need to manually confirm once when sending a WeChat message

You still need to manually confirm once when making a WeChat call

2. It can help you view chat content, but you can only forward one chat message to Xiaowei at a time. It can't help you view multiple chat contents through "multi-select - forward".

You can only forward one chat record to Xiaowei at a time

It can't help you view multiple chat records at once, but it can view screenshots of the chat interface

Analysis given by Xiaowei after viewing the screenshot of the chat interface

3. It can help you view the articles recently liked by your friends, but it can't see specifically who liked them.

Xiaowei can provide articles liked by friends

Xiaowei can't see specifically who liked the articles

4. It can help you view Moments content, but it can only view the Moments from the last two days at most. It can't view the Moments before two days ago.

It can only view the Moments from the last two days

It can help you summarize the Moments content

5. It can help you recommend products, but it only supports recommending products in WeChat stores.

Click on the "Product Collection" to directly jump to the WeChat store

Currently, it only supports recommending products in WeChat stores

6. It can help you view articles