Beijing Strives to Become a Global AI Innovation Hub

At the 2026 Zhongguancun Forum, AI “translators” seamlessly switched between eight languages, while robot dining services showcased full autonomous collaboration from ordering to delivery. This event highlighted the latest achievements and applications in artificial intelligence.

Beijing is rapidly advancing towards its goal of becoming the “first city for global artificial intelligence.” Over the next two years, it plans to implement nine major initiatives aimed at achieving a core AI industry scale exceeding one trillion yuan, establishing itself as a global innovation hub with technological and industrial competitiveness.

Targeting Technological Frontiers

Can we create general intelligent agents without extensive data training? At the forum, the world’s first general intelligent being, “Tongtong” 3.0, was unveiled, showcasing significant upgrades in spatial, cognitive, and social intelligence. It has moved into a 3D simulation “AI town” for social learning and autonomous evolution.

“We are following a technology route driven by cognition and value causation,” said Zhu Songchun, head of the Beijing General Artificial Intelligence Research Institute. Currently, “Tongtong” has a mental level comparable to that of a five to six-year-old child, capable of exploring the world and learning basic life and social skills, paving the way for AI research paradigms.

The topic of “farming lobsters” is currently trending in the AI field. However, beneath the excitement lies a need for critical thinking regarding data security, platform compatibility, and compliance thresholds. The reality for many developers and enterprises is that they can use AI but are hesitant to do so due to risks.

During the “AI + Industry” forum, Baidu Smart Cloud Vice President Yin Dawei introduced the AI assistant DuMate, which supports local deployment and requires risk confirmation for operations. “There are still technical challenges and data security risks in the implementation of intelligent agents, which require companies to build defenses from the product design stage.”

Beijing is also targeting the forefront of global AI technology. The Beijing Scientific Intelligence Research Institute launched the world’s first AI platform for the entire research process, the “Bole Research Space Station,” which has registered over 3 million users in less than a year. The Zhongguancun Artificial Intelligence Research Institute achieved breakthroughs in super software intelligence technology, enabling automatic migration of binary programs to domestic platforms.

Building an Open Source Ecosystem

Where should AI head next? “Open source” has become a common consensus among forum participants.

“This year’s Government Work Report proposed to deepen and expand ‘AI +’, cultivate new intelligent native business formats and models, and promote the prosperity of the open-source ecosystem. Open source has become a national strategy driving the development of AI in China, providing a clear path from ’technological breakthroughs’ to ‘industrial implementation,’” said Zhang Ge, Secretary of the Haidian District Committee.

At the AI Open Source Frontier Forum on “AI Theme Day,” Haidian solicited international proposals for the comprehensive planning of the “Century-old Jing-Zhang AI Innovation Belt,” which spans approximately 9 kilometers from Beijing’s Second Ring Road to the Fifth Ring Road, connecting Tsinghua University, Peking University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as key landmarks like the Zhongguancun Dongsheng Technology Park and Wudaokou. In the future, this area will leverage mainstream open-source platforms for shared access, linking global developers to create an open and collaborative innovation ecosystem.

“The paradigm of AI research is undergoing fundamental changes,” said Yang Zhiling, founder of the Dark Side of the Moon. He believes that the evolution of intelligent forms will shift from “individual operations” to “intelligent agent clusters,” necessitating the establishment of a new generation of Chinese technical solutions for AI. “Whether it’s a new generation of architecture or optimization tools, open-source strategies will accelerate global developers’ exploration of AI’s limits, unleashing productivity across broader social and economic fields.”

A significant challenge facing the AI industry is the incompatibility between chip interfaces and software ecosystems. During the forum, the unified open-source system software stack for various AI chips, known as Zongzhi FlagOS 2.0, was launched. Lin Yonghua, Deputy Director and Chief Engineer of the Zhiyuan Research Institute, announced that this version now supports full-scenario applications for 32 AI chips from 18 manufacturers.

The future of artificial intelligence is not a solo performance. On March 27, the Zhongguancun AI Open Source Alliance was officially established, initiated by the Beijing Zhiyuan Artificial Intelligence Research Institute and Peking University. The alliance brings together over 40 chip, large model enterprises, and research institutions, aiming to collaboratively build a controllable AI open-source ecosystem centered around FlagOS 2.0 through research and development funds, certification platforms, and developer competitions.

Empowering Various Industries

Technological innovation is taking root, while application scenarios are expanding. In Beijing, rapidly developing artificial intelligence is empowering various industries and deeply integrating into people’s production and daily lives.

From making candy skewers and coffee to delivering meals, eight robots from five intelligent companies collaborated for the first time to achieve a closed-loop dining service in a robot dining bar.

“This project breaks hardware barriers, relying on a unified robotic brain and task scheduling collaboration platform, allowing multiple manufacturers and different types of robots to work together efficiently,” said Wang Qiang, Director of Embodied Operation Algorithms at Lejutong Research (Beijing) Robot Technology Co., Ltd. This technology is expected to be applied in industrial manufacturing, warehousing logistics, and even scientific research and medical fields, assisting humans in completing complex tasks that require high intensity or precision.

Embodied intelligent guiding devices provide precise navigation from door to door, high-throughput brain-machine interface systems help spinal cord injury patients regain mobility, and AR (augmented reality) subtitle glasses make communication easier for hearing-impaired individuals. A series of technology-assisted products for the disabled, equipped with cutting-edge technology, have emerged, demonstrating the power of technology for good.

As you walk through Beijing, autonomous taxis glide smoothly down the streets; smart factories employ AI visual quality inspection to identify defects in milliseconds; in the Haidian District’s Wudaokou area, AI traffic control systems sense traffic flow and queue lengths in real-time, significantly reducing congestion during peak hours. The application scenarios of artificial intelligence are visible everywhere in Beijing.

The results continue to emerge, scenarios are constantly enriched, and resources are accelerating their gathering. Data shows that Beijing has 148 individuals on the AI 2000 list of the most influential scholars globally, accounting for over 40% of the national total; the total number of AI scholars in Beijing reaches 15,000, making up 30% of the national total. As of now, Beijing has registered 219 large models, maintaining its position as the national leader.