On October 15, 36Kr Holdings learned that Tencent and Sogou formally completed the integrated handover. Sogou changed his identity and joined Tencent, Sogou continued to Tencent, the salary and benefits were aligned with Tencent in the same system, and the product and technology departments were also integrated into several related business units of Tencent in an orderly manner.

It has been reported that Sogou CEO Wang Xiaochuan may start another business in the medical field after leaving Sogou. In today's internal letter, Wang Xiaochuan also talked about his plan after leaving office and said, "what has haunted me for 20 years is also my curiosity about life science." In the next 20 years, life will be more meaningful if we can make a contribution to the development of life science and medicine and make a little contribution to public health. " In recent years, Wang Xiaochuan and Sogou have also invested in many enterprises, such as Airdoc, Dr. Chunyu, Xiao Lu traditional Chinese Medicine, and so on.

However, after leaving office, Wang Xiaochuan will still accept the invitation issued by Tencent COO Ren Yuxin on behalf of the company to be employed as a consultant to Tencent Group.

According to Tencent insiders, on the morning of the handover day, Tencent posted that he had set up an "information platform and service line" under PCG (platform and content Enterprise Group), responsible for QQ Browser, viewing, search, free novels, documents, and other business, and providing users with platforms and services for information search, browsing, consumption, editing, storage, and information services, led by Tencent Vice President Yin Yu (Mel). In this handover, Sogou search and browsers and other information products are merged into the line of business.

Sogou merger landing matters by Yin Yu specific lead, the idea is the merger of similar products, related team integration. In addition to merging information products into the information platform and service line, Sogou's AI interaction technology and products are merged into the PCG technology public line, strengthening technological breakthroughs and content business empowerment in the AI field; input method business, as one of the super scenarios for the in-depth application of AI, is also included in the PCG technology public line, and will focus on using technology to enhance the user experience of the product in the future. Businesses such as maps, which are more related to enterprise-level services, are merged into related departments such as CSIG (cloud and smart industry group) smart travel. After the completion of product business integration, search, input method, PC browser and other products still retain Sogou brand operation.

Sogou, who specializes in search engines, browsers and input methods, was first born in Sohu.com Ltd in 2004, mainly engaged in the search business of Sohu.com Ltd, which was started by Wang Xiaochuan, a former senior vice president of Sohu.com Ltd and CTO.

In August 2010, in order to counter the acquisition plan at that time, Wang Xiaochuan went to Hangzhou to solicit assistance. Sohu.com Ltd and BABA announced that they would spin off Sogou to set up an independent company, introducing BABA's strategic investment of US $15 million and acquiring a 10% stake in Sogou. However, in July 2012, Sohu.com Ltd bought back about 10 per cent of Sogou held by BABA, and Sogou and BABA officially broke up.

As a result, Tencent, who worked hard but failed to do the search and the company's strategy turned to openness, finally had the opportunity to invest in Sogou. In September, Tencent injected US $448 million into Sogou and merged his Tencent search business and other related assets into Sogou. Sogou search announced its official access to Wechat official account data in June 2014, and users can browse the Wechat official account and all articles related to query terms on the Sogou search results page, which is a major source of traffic for Sogou search.

However, Tencent's acquisition of Sogou has experienced twists and turns. In July last year, Sogou announced for the first time that he had received Tencent's acquisition offer. However, in the following year, the regulatory environment changed, Internet giants such as Tencent and BABA were subject to antitrust censorship, and some past transactions were fined, while others were forced to abort.

But Sogou is lucky. On July 13, 2021, the State Administration of Market Supervision approved Tencent to acquire a stake in Sogou. Since then, Sogou issued an announcement on September 24, announcing that it would complete privatization and delisting and become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tencent. The handover means that Tencent's acquisition of Sogou has been officially completed.

On the morning of the handover day, Wang Xiaochuan and Yin Yu sent internal letters successively. The following is the full text:

Sogou Wang Xiaochuan: the mountains and seas are far and wide, walking to the new

Dear colleagues Sogou,

It has been 383 days since Tencent issued a preliminary acquisition offer. After fully demonstrating, communicating and adjusting with the government, shareholders and team, today is the big day for Sogou to be formally incorporated into Tencent. Starting from today, Sogou will integrate into the Tencent family and go to Shanhai together.

In these 383 days, our team is stable and the business is stable and healthy. In a respectful, sincere and professional atmosphere, through fully optimized integration programs, business and team adjustments have been basically in place. In this process, some students had anxiety and unease, but now they are all in good order and high morale. In the future, Sogou search, input method, PC browser and other core products will continue to maintain Sogou brand operation, while Sogou is proud of search technology and AI capabilities, will also be able to Tencent business system, the opportunity to create greater value for society.

According to the agreement made 383 days ago, today is also the day when I step down as CEO of Sogou. This email represents my official farewell to Sogou. It has been 4083 days since she became Sogou CEO on August 10, 2010. If you join Sohu.com Ltd on September 1, 2000, it will be 7714 days. In the past 21 years, I and Sohu.com Ltd, Sogou colleagues side by side, passionate struggle, together to write too many stories, youth and passion, remember vividly. Some time ago, I looked at the cave murals of a thousand years in Dunhuang and sighed that the right and wrong and success or failure over the past thousand years was not only a moment, but also eternity. And my joy, glory, twists and turns and regrets over the past 21 years have also been fixed, turned into medals and placed in the bottom of my heart. A successful farewell will promote a new journey of life.

Thank you, Mr. Zhang Chaoyang, who is the founder of the Internet in China and my spiritual godfather. 20 years ago, as a fresh graduate, I had the honor to join Sohu.com Ltd. His words and deeds, his integrity, diligence, ultimate pursuit and never give up spirit benefited me all my life.

I would like to thank Mr. Ma Huateng and my colleagues of Tencent for promoting the opening up and prosperity of China's Internet. I am also impressed by their mission of the Tech for Good Initiative. In the vital support and recognition they provided to Sogou, I deeply felt the kindness and mind of the Tencent people.

I would like to thank Sogou's colleagues for moving forward with trust, persistence and love. It is precisely because of your dedication and perseverance that Sogou's every step can be so solid. I am not separated from you, your future achievements will still be an inspiration to me, bless you.

I would like to thank myself for my great efforts and dedicating all my love to Sogou. I once proudly confessed to the media: "Sogou is my wife." Once loved, there are no regrets. If you love, you will grow up. Bid farewell to Sogou, I gained a greater ability to love relatives, to pursue a belated love. In addition, what has haunted me for two decades is the curiosity about life science. In the next 20 years, life will be more meaningful if we can make a contribution to the development of life science and medicine and make a little contribution to public health.

Thanks to this beautiful era, the mountains and seas are far and wide.

We are witnesses of history, enjoying the dividends brought by the prosperity of China and the Internet revolution. We are the creators of history. With the Internet as our cause, we have the opportunity to contribute to the well-being of hundreds of millions of people at work. As a result, the meaning of life has become enriched, and the world is different because of Sogou. Sogou is integrated into the Tencent family this time, hoping that the world will be different again and live up to his love.

I would like to share with you.

Sogou CEO Wang Xiaochuan

October 15, 2021

Yin Yu, vice president of Tencent and head of information platform and service line: out of curiosity, set out.

Dear colleagues,

Today, the company announced the establishment of an information platform and service line, which will integrate a new lineup of teams to explore the future of search, browsers and information services.

Today is also the day when Sogou colleagues officially joined Tencent. After more than a year of expectation, we ushered in our teammates who once fought side by side. Special thanks to Ogawa, for the arrival of this day and smooth switching to do a lot of efforts and work; also bless Ogawa, continue to pursue their ideals and career. Warmly welcome Sogou colleagues. Starting from today, we will go to the "convincing Line" together.

As a 15-year-old penguin, I have the honor to witness the development and changes of the Internet in China and the world together with Tencent. In 1990, the world's first browser was born; in 1993, the first Web search engine appeared. They are the window for human beings to explore the digital world, help people break through the physical limitations of information transmission, and satisfy the curiosity of exploring the world. Even after 30 years of development, the human Internet is still an important tool for us to obtain information and services, active in the PC and mobile phones of more than 4 billion Internet users around the world. They have experienced the growth of several generations and enlightened the wisdom of generation after generation.

We live in a big era, a new era of digital civilization. The volume of knowledge, information and services has never been seen before, the speed of development is unprecedented, and the cognitive boundaries of human beings are opening wide and deep at the same time. However, with the popularity of smart phones and the rise of independent APP, the phenomenon of information isolated island is becoming more and more serious, which hinders people's open exploration. In the future, comprehensive search and vertical search will be symbiotic, and APP will continue to enrich the content and form of search through Mini Program, helping people overcome the dilemma of cognitive cocoon houses and expand the boundaries of curiosity.

Curiosity is not only the innate nature of human beings, but also the premise of all human progress, scientific and cultural breakthroughs. Behind every search lies a curious heart, a desire for knowledge and information, and a real problem and demand.

The traditional search is more about the search of information and the acquisition of problem-solving methods. The future search is not only the process from "search" to "information", from "ask" to "answer", but also from "information" to "use service", from "answer" to "problem solving", and complete the closed loop of "Searching-Knowing-Doing". This is the origin of the name of our "information platform and service line".

In this great era of gratitude, let us, as Internet people, witness and experience the great development in the past 30 years, serving the needs of hundreds of millions of users. Today, the digital world is still magnificent, and we will set sail together to create tools for the Internet to access information and services in the next 30 years, and strive to become a super window for people to understand the world and explore the unknown. This is our common cause.

I believe that every better satisfaction of curiosity will create a small happy experience. May we uphold the spirit of Tech for Good and use our passionate feelings for the Internet cause to light the beacon of people exploring the unknown world from generation to generation, so that every curiosity can grow infinitely in the digital age.

Mel

October 15, 2021