Discussion keeps the world turning.
This is round table.
The future of AI is being shaped right now at Beijing's 2025 Global AI Plus Conference, where the world's brightest minds have converged to decode the next wave of intelligent technology that will redefine global industries.
How will China's unique approach to AI integration reshape not just its own technological landscape, but the entire world's digital future?
We're live from Beijing.
This is Roundtable.
I'm Steve.
Thank you very much for being with us today.
And for the show with you shun and you shan up.
First, the global 2025 ai plus conference has transformed beijing into a global epicenter for technological dialogue.
This premier gathering has drawn a distinguished cohort of ai leaders and visionary scientists and key policy makers all converging to chart the future course of intelligent technology.
Their central mission is to explore the transformative potential of the AI Plus revolution, debating its trajectory and its unique application within China's ambitious tech ecosystem.
Ultimately, the discussions here aim to find out what the next decade of AI Plus will unlock for China and for the rest of the world.
Pardon me.
But I think...
When I think about AI and how seamlessly it's integrated into our lives these days.
Sometimes we know we're using it and oftentimes we don't know we're using it.
Yeah, a lot of times it is just so silently integrated into our lives.
No matter it's about the software or hardware they're using.
It's probably like companies are using them to produce their products and they're integrating AI into function of features into their products and you are actually using them.
Maybe some data as they are collecting the results they're giving you are all created by AI.
I remember a few years ago I was talking about it with my friends about how customer service for some particular online thing or something.
The bots.
Yeah.
And I was talking about our conversation and they said, you know, you're talking to a bot, right?
I said, oh, really?
And I didn't even realize it at the time.
And now, you know, here we are a few years later.
So let's get into the conference then.
What is the 2025 Global AI Plus Conference and why does it matter to us?
Yeah, it is a very, very major international event focused on charting future of artificial intelligence AI, and driving its deep integration across all economic and social sectors.
And it is held in Beijing.
And this year, it was a high-end global event held from November 15th to 17th.
And it is held in the location of the Zhongguancun International Innovation Center.
And this area, Zhongguancun.
I think a lot of Beijingers will have special connection with this place oh yeah, i got my first personal computer there, like ever, like over 20 years ago.
And that place perhaps not so well known to outside of beijing, but if we mention china's silicon valley then a lot of chinese people might recall it.
It's located in north and beijing's haidian district and it's already started this journey innovative technology journey all the way back in the 1980s, when it was called the electronic street oh cool which is a gathering of technology companies that's emerging after the reform and opening up period here in China ever since, like decades ago.
So this area of Beijing, if you need electronics, this is where you're going.
Exactly.
A hard drive, a computer, a laptop, whatever, you name it.
So yeah, now it's such a hub, a national innovation demonstration zone that harbors over 200
20,000 high-tech enterprises, over 400 listed companies, and over 100 unicorn companies.
I looked it up.
So that term unicorns?
It means startups that reach a valuation of over 1 billion and are not listed on the stock market.
Basically, they're the dream of all tech startups.
Yeah, that's where you want to be.
So yeah, that's Zhongguancun.
And I'm so happy to see that this 2025 Global AI Plus Conference is held there.
Even me, not as a Beijing-er, I used to read a lot of tech information from this area.
I know they release a lot of news and that.
And many tech giants have their China headquarters here or their headquarters basically there, such as Douyin, Microsoft and Xiaomi a lot of them.
So this is a place that I think it used to be a tech place that people would go purchase their electronics and then is developing into a global internet and innovation hub.
And that's why it's the perfect location to have such an event.
So what types of themes were covered at this year's event?
One theme would be the focusing on AI's next decade and linking supply with demand to driving development.
It signals a move from competition to co-creation and shared value through the evolving and kept on growing of the AI technology.
So there are several concrete outcomes that got released from the Global AI Plus Conference.
So the first one is that the China AI solution will be released at the conference.
And it's a framework that's promoting open cooperation and ethical AI use, because the ethical issues also the like the policy, lawful issues has always been discussed ever since ai's popularity globally and it's been a big issue, and now the conference is addressing just that.
And then there is the ai plus initiative, which was first pointed out in august this year here in china, and it continues to be a key idea for the conference this year.
That expands ai's integration into many fields like healthcare manufacturing, climate combating climate change and also culture and people's well-being.
So it's basically setting the stage for a deeper discussion on how AI plus everything is perhaps reshaping our future everyday life.
Yeah, AI plus everything that's that's a good way to put it, but you did mention that term there the AI plus initiative.
So what does that, what is that and what does it mean for for us here in China?
Actually, AI plus this combination is not that new right.
It's not a new term at all.
And on the surface, it simply refers to the use of AI in a lot of these areas.
Various industries.
Right.
But at the same time, it also reflects each sector's efforts to seek breakthrough and drive innovation, and also integrating AI applications in these sectors.
Right.
And we actually mentioned some of these areas.
Yushan mentioned it.
And we had a chat about how seamlessly these AR has been integrated into our life.
And these... are good examples of the AI plus.
So what types of sectors are we talking about?
First of all is the sector that many of us, including on the governmental and authority level, are very much focused on is the science and technology sector.
We're trying to make smarter and faster discoveries every single day, like in the material sciences.
One that's raising.
One good example is reported by China National Radio in this August that one of the labs here in Beijing it's trying to develop advanced materials for aerospace crafts.
And they're using AI to develop the specialized metals required for these aircrafts.
And these also the engines that rely on such very innovative and high-tech kind of materials.
Usually, or rather traditionally, the RD cycle for material products like this could take up over a decade, but with the ai affiliated technology, it's some of it that's now shortened to within three years.
Yeah, and that would be an example of a sector or an industry that's a little beyond the reach of the average person here in china and around the world.
I mean, the research is happening, the developments are happening, but it's just stuff that we don't really know about and we don't hear about every single day.
Yes, speaking of that um, you know ai plus, Because consumption is probably going to be the one that we're getting to touch every day, I would say
And AI is integrated into a lot of consumption scenarios.
Let's say smart home services has been integrated into controlling lights appliances, providing daily information via your smart mirrors and your um speakers.
Smart speakers, and actually to be.
I was thinking about this, you know.
Uh, i used to wonder do we really need that much of ai in our life?
Do we really need that much of analysis and data in our life?
To to, to give, to the ai i think need is the operative word in that sentence do we need it?
Probably not to survive.
Probably these are just some Gimmicks, or or the demand that created by these manufacturer.
I was thinking it like very negatively probably, but recently I just bought a new water heater, You know, that kind of you use for shower, and it actually has that kind of AI plus function.
So, in analysis, my Analyze, my daily water use habits and when do I use water?
How much do I use water?
Yeah, and then this machine will prepare the right amount of water for me so that it can save electricity.
Oh, that's amazing, actually.
Do you need to download some apps in order to calculate?
No, it's integrated into the machine itself.
Of course you can see all of the stats and your daily use habits through that app, but you can use that function or feature without in the app.
So the machine itself learns because you're training it, I guess, in the beginning.
You need to feed it the data for probably one week.
And in this case, the data is how much water you use while you take a shower.
Preferred temperature.
And then it stores that, it remembers, and then it provides the perfect amount of water for you and no more.
Yeah.
Oh, wow.
So that's really efficient then.
What if I want to take a longer bath today?
You can because it will apply water for you to get out.
It's not like they will only offer you that specific amount of water.
They're trying to use this way to help you know how much water you're using and also how much electricity they're saving for you.
Yeah, I mean, it sounds like, oh, do I really need that?
But the planet needs that type of thing because if one person can save a little bit of water in their shower and put that in every household around the world, then you're going to save a pretty significant amount and make some big changes.
Yeah, these are all just details that's elevating people's livelihood and general well-being.
And speaking of which, there is also a massive development scale on smarter care system here in China, such as the AI plus diagnostic support that's affiliated in the hospital or pharmaceutical or drugstore apps, and also media apps and also personal health management system.
And meanwhile, AI is also expected to play a meaningful role in strengthening social connections.
That's outside of the medical sector, but more like providing emotional support and companionship for For elderly, for example, there's assisting elderly care and also the assisting for disability groups, better services catering to them and also even promoting nationwide fitness and well-being system.
And I guess that's aligned with a lot of the sports apps that we use nowadays.
The sports apps?
Yeah, like those for – there's one that I'm using very often.
There's Keep.
That's one major fitness apps that you can track everything through your portable devices or your wristbands.
And then there are the gym apps like Leke I'm not sure what's his English name and also a few others that's using their apps to provide you AI services to calculate how much big of amount you need to do every day in order to reach to your weight loss or muscle gaining goal during a certain period of time.
All that,
That's all just ways to promote people's general well-being in all aspects.
Yeah.
Sometimes you want to be reminded of that information and sometimes you don't, depending on how you do at the gym.
The gym I go to, if I get on the treadmill, it tracks.
So I need to use a QR code to get into the treadmill.
I don't just turn on the treadmill.
And why?
Because the treadmill or the app is tracking my progress.
So when I'm finished my little jog or whatever, I already know that I didn't go far enough.
But then the app tells me here's how low you rank on the number of people that have jogged today.
Right,
Oh, my goodness.
Yeah, so that's what I mean by that.
State Council talked about this.
They put out some plans for what they want to achieve today.
I kind of love this sentence.
The goal for them is to move consumption from quote having something to quote having something better.
With AI.
Yeah, with AI.
So just quickly, what are some of the things that they want to do maybe over the next 10 years?
Yeah, it's categorized by time frame.
So, first of all, by 2027, China aims to lay the foundation for an AI-driven economy.
That's achieving deep integration of AI across major sectors and also expanding adoption of smart devices.
And then...
By 2030, the focus shifts to full-scale empowerment, where AI becomes a core force behind high-quality development in all walks of life.
And then by 2035, China envisions entering a mature, intelligent society where AI deeply supports modernization.
And I would assume by then, over in the next decade, we'll gradually more tend to forget that we're using AI and see it just naturally as part of our life.
And if certain services or sectors don't use AI, that will be weird.
Yeah, I know what you mean.
I think I brought this up on the show maybe a couple of episodes ago, where I said that we're just now in the beginning stages of this, where everything I think we were talking about the home robots, where I said we're just at the beginning stages now, so everything is kind of cool and surprising.
And shocking in a good way.
And then, 10 years later, it's just going to be something that we probably don't even think that much about anymore.
But all of those plans for two years later, for five years later, for 10 years later, I think we can safely say that China is pretty ready for this full implementation into various aspects of life.
In fact, China is ready.
And also the country has already been doing it for quite amount of time and even also collaborating with some other countries and helping other countries.
And in some areas, like industrial and digital infrastructure area, AI is already embedded in smart manufacturing, autonomous driving, robotics and healthcare.
And one example is that I saw that large model adoption has been highly integrated into the use and the produce of a lot of these areas.
Tencent Group Vice President Si Xiao provided statistics demonstrating that rapid growth in the consumption of tokens that is quite a familiar word in recent years.
That means the smallest data unit for processing text similar to internet traffic, that kind of thing.
So the consumption rate grew from a daily average of 100 billion tokens in early 2024 to over 30 trillion by the end of June this year.
And what does that mean, then?
That more and more and more people... More and more companies and people and entities are using AI.
And that's about like 300-fold increase in the scale of ai plus application.
Let me provide more data to back you off on that.
So, as of june 2025, china's generative ai user base has reached 515 million people.
That's an increase of um over 260 million compared with december 2024, and in just six months the number of users has essentially doubled.
That's pushing overall adoption to over 36 of all population.
And that's according to an official report posted by Xinhua News just this October.
That means, yes, like you said, Steve, China is ready for it.
And there are indeed more and more Chinese people using generative AI these days.
And one good example, I would assume here, it would be DeepSeek.
Because earlier this year, when DeepSeek first emerged, it was January 2025, right?
Well, it existed for more than one to two years, but it wasn't until earlier this year that it got expanded, kind of like globally popularized.
Was that when it was?
It feels like it was years ago now.
Right?
I thought it was last year.
And it was only about 10 months ago.
That's how fast AI is developing.
And by May this year, across 125 million active monthly users globally are now using DeepSeek.
That's just how fast it's evolving here in China.
We need a generative AI search engine and there's DeepSeek and now millions of people are using it worldwide.
Yeah, and I know that with some video production apps like AI video apps where you can go text to image, then you can use DeepSeek to help to generate your prompt for the video making app.
So there's seamless integration between the AIs, from AI to AI as well.
Yeah, I mean, there's 1.4 billion people in China.
There's 1.1 billion internet users.
I mean, that stat alone kind of suggests that the country is ready now.
And then you've got the conglomerates.
You've got the companies that you mentioned that are obviously making...
A lot of big headway with this, but also there's the smaller and medium-sized enterprises that are doing their job too.
For example, like we mentioned earlier, we want to kind of get to know a bit more about the day-to-day life that's so closely integrated in all of our everyday experiences.
One that we cannot ignore.
Like you mentioned, just bought Yushun.
There's the small, or rather smart home appliances sector, where several small or medium-sized enterprises, such as this one called Bing Shan Group, who is specialized in refrigeration and heating, they're actively embracing AI to create smarter and greener living.
Regarding your kitchen storage inside your refrigerator
So, by integrating deep learning-driven energy optimization in their, They're trying to make the small home appliances that they produce, mainly refrigerators, to cost less energy, while being smart enough to preserve your food based on what you're putting in it.
So that's pretty cool.
I kind of need it.
Yeah, I hope.
Not need. but want, I think.
Yeah, I want my fridge to tell me what's inside before I open the door.
And I want it to tell me some recipes based on the food that's inside.
I mean, that just blows my mind that that's available.
And another thing is where international experts are also predicting that AI would generate up to 12 trillion US dollars in the pharmaceutical sector alone.
And that's demonstrating the tangible economic potential of this initiative.
So AI is already reshaping the pharmaceutical industry in such a big scale.
To be specific, 80 of professionals in that field have now used AI or AI-related technology for drug discovery.
That's cutting a five- to six-year process down to just one year in developing new drugs for a more specific type of disease.
Indeed.
Yeah, that and pre-diagnosis as well.
Right.
Using AI for that, using smart health management systems, not only in big cities, but also in village clinics.
And that's amazing for the people in those communities.
But it also really helps narrow the gap because people Perhaps in the past you'd have a difference in the quality of health care that would be available in somewhere like Beijing or Shanghai or Guangzhou versus a rural community in another part of the country.
But you know, those are the domestic, wonderful domestic improvements that we're experiencing now and there's much more to look forward to in the future.
But China isn't just thinking about doing things here.
There's a lot of international focus, too.
Yeah.
Actually internationally, China is also sharing this kind of AI plus vision through the AI plus international cooperation initiative, which is announced at a global government meeting in September 2025.
The Smart China Expo, you mean?
Yeah, this Global Development Initiative, GDI, was actually proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping on September 21st in 2021 during his address to the general debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
And then in line with...
GDI's goals of fostering stronger and greener development.
China proposed this AI plus international cooperation initiative at a high-level meeting on the global development initiative.
And this AI initiative highlights that artificial intelligence plays a very vital role in the advancing of the UN 2030 agenda for SDG the sustainable development and also should be promote it for deeper integration into economic and social development.
This reminds me of an X-Space chat that I just had last Friday with guests from around the world.
And one American guest spoke about.
Something that impressed me so deeply is that China is not only creating AI or doing innovative development regarding AI for ourselves, for itself, but rather it's making the technology, high-tech technology, more accessible to more countries, so that the threshold of developing AI-related technology or products or devices is shared worldwide.
Yeah, and that's mutually beneficial.
And there are already a lot of great examples of that.
Yes.
For example, in Cambodia, there's a smart farming system that's developed through China's Smart Farm Development Program, located in southern Cambodia.
And farmers there use AI-powered tools like water quality monitoring apps and drone based precision feeding and, as a result, the survival rate and quality of the local prawns improved, as in shrimps, and the annual income per hectare actually tripled from about one thousand us dollars to over three thousand us dollars pretty cool.
Also, in Brazil, the electric power large model developed by China's state grid also assists Brazil's power grid in intelligent operations and maintenance, and it helps tackle complex inspection challenges in difficult environments or improving reliability and efficiency, which means that this whole project I think a lot of these projects are helping a lot of these areas in the world to build their infrastructure and enhance the management, and a lot of these other things.
100%.
There's a project in South Africa as well, the smart railway system.
Huawei deployed their AI-driven railway management systems for that country's national railways.
That was a huge deal for South Africa because it reduced incident rates and also improved inspection and maintenance efficiency.
Singapore has their AI in healthcare.
That's where Chinese medical AI tech was introduced into their health system there.
And then just generally speaking, there's global cooperation platforms.
Back in 2023, China launched the Global AI Governance Initiative.
I think you mentioned that quickly.
And it founded organizations like China Bricks AI, Development and Cooperation Center groups working together to make sure that not just one is improving, but everyone is improving.
And, as I mentioned, it's not just beneficial for China, it's beneficial for everyone, because it signals the fact that China is looking to make AI cooperation open and inclusive and developmental.
I think when we think about the AI race, a lot of the times we're thinking about competition who can achieve what first but sometimes that shouldn't be the goal.
And Those examples we just gave are great examples of that.
So what do we look forward to?
What's coming next then?
Yeah, with a focus on Shower water heating systems.
That will play your favorite Ed Sheeran song for you.
Well, thanks for mentioning that.
But anyway... Let's not reveal... You're like...
Please continue.
These practical applications and China will continue building high quality AI data sets and it will improve data related copyright and property rights system, open publicly funded content where appropriate, models for data contributors and also support industries like data labeling and synthetic data.
Because was mentioning this, because we also discussed this before in some previous episodes that data collection and the information is very, very important during the development of a lot of these ai, because this is the data of the foundation of their development.
Yeah, that's what.
That's what's teaching the ai how to operate um efficiently.
And, of course, you know the concerns and the challenges are are the same as the ones that we always talk about privacy and all of those things.
But um, The world seems to be moving in a direction where AI is not just going to be something cool that we hear about in the news from time to time.
It's going to be something where we can use it in our daily lives more and more and more and more.
And the more countries that are on a level playing field, being able to take advantage of the sharing of information and technology.
Well, that's just going to make the world a better place overall, a better place to be.
