China unveils upgraded version of world's first AGI agent

China

China unveils upgraded version of world's first AGI agent

2025-03-30 22:33 Last Updated At：03-31 16:27

China on Saturday launched the 2.0 version of "Tong Tong," the world's first artificial general intelligence (AGI) agent, featuring a young girl AI capable of autonomous learning, reflection, and growth, marking a significant milestone in AI technology development.

Developed by the Beijing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence (BIGAI), the new version of "Tong Tong" was revealed during the Artificial Intelligence Theme Day at the 2025 Zhongguancun Forum.

The upgraded AI can dynamically update its knowledge base, value functions, and skills through autonomous learning, with the ability to reflect and grow in a human-like manner.

At the launch event, Chen Hao, executive director of the Advanced Technology Center at BIGAI, highlighted Tong Tong 2.0's capabilities.

"Tong Tong 2.0 achieves consistency between language and embodied actions, or what we commonly refer to as 'walking the talk.' In terms of cognition, Tong Tong 2.0 is capable of parallel task planning. By the end of the year, we will open Tong Tong 2.0's interactive channel to the public. We also plan to integrate its brain with an embodied robot, enhancing its ability to interact with the physical world, thereby improving the robot's intelligence and giving it a 'heart,'"Chen said.

The unveiling of Tong Tong 2.0 was a highlight of the Artificial Intelligence Theme Day at the 2025 Zhongguancun Forum, underscoring AI's expanding role.

For instance, AI was used to produce promotional videos and warm-up content for the event. QR codes placed throughout the venue linked to the forum's AI assistant, "Xiao Guan," which helped attendees navigate schedules and locations.

The Theme Day was filled with sessions, including three simultaneous forums focused on embodied intelligence and general AI. Both the number and scale of these discussions have grown significantly compared to last year.

"Over 50 major innovative achievements were released on Theme Day. It provided an excellent platform for communication and collaboration among participants," said Tang Chao, deputy director of the Zhongguancun Science City Management Committee.

The 2025 Zhongguancun Forum, themed "New Quality Productive Forces and Global Technology Cooperation," commenced on Thursday in Beijing, drawing participants from more than 100 countries and regions.

Featuring 128 events across five major sections, the forum covers a broad range of topics -- from technology trading to frontier competitions -- and will run through Monday.

China to expand imports with supportive measures in 2026: Commerce Ministry

China will step up efforts to expand imports in 2026 through coordinated domestic and international initiatives, as the country has become the world's second-largest consumer and import market, the Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.

In 2026, China will further encourage Chinese companies to go global while inviting more foreign businesses to enter the Chinese market by holding import promotion events through multiple channels and in diverse formats both at home and abroad.

"We will enhance the synergy between the 'Export to China' initiative and the 'Shopping in China' campaign. By integrating these efforts with consumption-boosting programs such as 'Premium Consumption Month' and the 'International Consumption Season', we aim to bring in more high-quality imported products and services and help them perform well in the Chinese market. At the same time, we expect to see more vertical and horizontal coordination among diverse market players, and better online-offline connectivity, to continuously raise the quality and efficiency of imports," said Wang Zhihua, director of the Department of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Commerce.

The first event in 2026 under the theme "Export to China to Share the Big Market" was held in Beijing. The ministry said it will host more than 100 related events throughout the year to support a wider range of high-quality global goods and services entering the Chinese market.