At the 2026 Converged Intelligence Industry Development Conference held in Wuhan's Optics Valley, organized jointly by the Converged Intelligence Industry Innovation Center and Hubei Science and Technology Investment Group, Zhu Guibo, a researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Artificial Intelligence, shared his insights on the sector's trajectory. He noted that from 2025 onward, the industry is navigating a pivotal transition from simple agents toward true innovators. He also proposed a three-stage framework for understanding this evolution: moving from generative artificial intelligence to AI agents, and ultimately advancing to physical AI.
Zhu explained that while generative AI continues to undergo rapid iteration and gradual advancement, the industry's core research focus is steadily shifting toward physical AI. In his view, the automotive sector represents an exceptionally well-suited platform for both physical AI and embodied intelligence applications. He pointed out that in the token economy arena, China holds certain competitive advantages, particularly in areas such as algorithmic development, open-source ecosystem building, and pricing mechanisms.
Looking at the global landscape, the AI token market is currently experiencing an exponential leap from the tens of billions to the trillions scale, with factors like cost structures, pricing models, and regional distribution continuing to shape the overall market dynamics. Zhu elaborated on the value proposition of tokens, stating that while the inherent cost of a token remains relatively stable, the value it generates can vary dramatically depending on the application scenario. For instance, using tokens merely for casual conversation carries a minimal cost per million tokens, but when applied to high-productivity contexts such as pharmaceutical research or software development, their value becomes remarkably substantial. He concluded by suggesting that applying this token logic to various high-value scenarios within the automotive industry could unlock significant commercialization opportunities.
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