AI industry shifts focus from chatbots to agentic AI

The artificial intelligence industry is transitioning from large language model chatbots to the era of AI agents. Qualcomm China Chairman Meng Pu notes that AI is forming a closed loop between evolving models and increasingly diverse smart terminals, though a true era of personal agents may not fully materialize until 2027 or 2028 due to challenges in cross-device collaboration and hardware costs.

In China, the rapid development of AI is being driven by strong capital and talent, with manufacturers integrating AI into phones, glasses, robots, and vehicles. Qualcomm is responding to this shift by adjusting its chip release cycles to align with Chinese consumer holidays and implementing a ‘dual flagship’ strategy to balance high-end performance with cost efficiency.

Globally, the acceleration of AI is unprecedented. DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis suggests that artificial general intelligence could have ten times the impact of the U.S. Industrial Revolution in a fraction of the time. As the technology moves from chatbots to agentic AI, Gartner forecasts that worldwide AI spending will reach $2.7 trillion by 2026.