Nation's expertise in AI tech spotlighted

From scientific innovation and industrial application to education and investment, Artificial Intelligence Day, a highlight of the 2025 Zhongguancun Forum Annual Conference, provided insights into industry trends and showcased China's AI prowess.

A total of 17 AI-themed activities were held during the five-day conference from Thursday to Monday, attracting more than 60 scientists, experts, officials and heads of tech companies from home and abroad.

Shao Bin, director of the Zhongguancun Institute of Artificial Intelligence, said that while AI technologies are burgeoning in China, revolutionary application is still scarce.

In view of the problems facing talent, technology, data, capital and ecosystem, a new synergistic system is needed, which can support industry, academia, research and innovation, as well as investment, and enhance positive interactions among them, Shao said at the AI Talent Development Forum on Saturday.

"Autonomous systems are the ultimate stage in the development of AI. They stem from the need to further automate existing organizations by gradually replacing humans with autonomous agents," the 2007 Turing Award winner Joseph Sifakis said via video link at the Future AI Pioneer Forum.

China, which has a solid and broad industrial base and a unified domestic market, is well-placed to develop more reliable Al adapted to the real economy, particularly to achieve the transition to autonomous systems, Sifakis said.

He emphasized that China should focus on core technologies for each field of application, and develop its own AI vision to take the lead in industrial AI, balance the AI strategic game, and partner with like-minded countries to regulate Al in a way that reconciles development and safety in the interest of society.

Kai-Fu Lee, former president of Google China and now chairman of Sinovation Ventures, also offered his perspectives on the outlook of generative AI at the forum.

Over the past two years, the intelligence of large AI models has been improving, but is far from its apex. Meanwhile, the models' inference costs have been decreasing 10-fold annually, creating favorable conditions for the widespread adoption of AI-first applications, Lee said.

He predicted that the year 2025 will mark the beginning of an AI-first application boom.

During the Forum on Innovation of Large Enterprises Empowered by AI and Digital Intelligence, corporate leaders shared their experience in driving intelligent transformation and upgrade through emerging technologies. Female representatives also explored how to promote the integration of science, technology and culture at the Forum on Women in Sci-Tech Innovation.

Additionally, a large batch of scientific research results, applications and programs were released during these AI-themed forums. These included the Beijing frontier algorithm collaborative innovation matrix, the AI100 Young Talent Program, and TongTong 2.0, which is the world's first artificial general intelligence agent.

Xiao Dan, a senior official from Beijing's Haidian district, demonstrated the remarkable progress in building the Haidian AI Innovation Block — an initiative launched at the 2024 ZGC Forum — and revealed the plan for the next phase of its development.

Haidian district will continue its efforts and support the block's construction across five key areas: funding, space, data infrastructure, talent and finance, according to the plan.

This year's ZGC Forum also utilized AI technology to provide participants with efficient services. Leveraging large AI models, the event's organizer introduced the "ZGC Forum intelligent agent", offering visitors intelligent Q&A services.

Nearly 100 humanoid robots from 15 companies were deployed throughout the venues, serving as hosts, performers, receptionists and assistants.

zhanglinwan@chinadaily.com.cn