At the AI Investment Summit held in Beijing on September 16, themed around "Certain Opportunities in the AI Infrastructure Era," Song Chunyu, Vice President of Lenovo Group, Chief Investment Officer of Lenovo Capital, and Senior Partner, shared his insights during a panel discussion. He emphasized that the artificial intelligence industry is still in its infancy, with the true transformation of various industries yet to unfold.
Song noted that this year marks the tenth anniversary of Lenovo Capital's founding. Over the past decade, the investment arm has backed a total of 330 companies, with 26 having successfully gone public. Among its portfolio, AI stands as the top investment priority, with over 150 companies receiving funding. He highlighted that AI has become one of the most rewarding sectors for Lenovo Capital in terms of the number of deals, capital deployed, and returns generated.
Regarding its investment strategy, Song revealed that Lenovo Capital has developed a comprehensive, full-stack AI investment map. The approach begins with the foundational layer of computing power infrastructure, extending into underlying technologies such as chips, semiconductors, and materials. From there, it broadens to cover AI infrastructure, foundational and frontier models, and eventually to intelligent agents in the digital world, autonomous driving in the physical world, and embodied intelligent robotics.
When discussing the current stage of AI development, Song expressed his belief that this is merely the beginning. He argued that the industry is in the early phase of a fourth industrial revolution. The core catalyst for this revolution, he pointed out, is the breakthrough in generative AI based on the Transformer architecture and foundational large models. He noted that while it may feel like a long time, this wave actually started in November 2022, meaning less than four years have passed—by the standards of an industrial revolution, it is definitely just getting started.
Song also addressed recent market concerns about rising memory prices. In his view, this AI cycle is just taking off, and what the market is currently witnessing is primarily the first wave of infrastructure construction. The application of AI across all industries has not yet begun in earnest. He explained that from the perspective of digital transformation, coding work has so far only penetrated the programmer profession. There are still countless other sectors to be covered, and everything remains in its very early stages.
Song concluded by reiterating that the journey of AI is only at its starting point, with immense potential and opportunities lying ahead as the technology begins to permeate every corner of the economy.
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