Swarmchasers Reports on AI Agents Operating from Tencent Infrastructure

A team of independent researchers known as Swarmchasers has observed a fleet of AI agents conducting extensive data queries on Alibaba's mapping service, Amap. This activity was traced back to Tencent's cloud infrastructure in Hong Kong, highlighting a competitive tension between the two major Chinese tech companies.

According to Swarmchasers, the AI agents focused on gathering specific data regarding entry points to various points of interest across China, including parks, museums, zoos, and hospitals. Their investigation revealed that the operation began on September 28, 2026, with activity peaking on October 4, when the researchers recorded 1,810 reports spanning 213 locations. The operation ceased shortly after 04:11 UTC on October 5.

During the peak of activity, the fleet operated 14 instances simultaneously, with Swarmchasers documenting 428 programs generated by the agents and over 1,100 cache-busting tags used to bypass Amap's defenses. Notably, the researchers found that the agents were able to circumvent anti-bot measures, employing techniques from previous public disclosures.

Interestingly, 211 of the outputs from the agents were labeled “claude,” referencing Anthropic’s AI model family. However, further analysis indicated that the underlying code and response patterns were more consistent with Tencent's own Hunyuan models. The researchers traced the Tencent Cloud infrastructure to 17 of the 18 readable inboxes associated with the activity, primarily routed through a proxy called hysandbox-ats.

While the report does not establish who directed the agents or their ultimate purpose, it emphasizes the lack of coordination among the agents, describing them as a “fleet” rather than a “swarm.” This distinction underscores that the agents were operating independently on similar tasks without communication.

Additionally, the timing of this activity coincided with a reported pause by OpenAI on certain training and evaluation processes, although no direct connection between the two has been established.