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.

Israel-Lebanon agreement faces challenges in implementation: Israeli experts

The framework agreement recently reached between Israel and Lebanon faces serious challenges in its implementation, according to Israeli experts.

After several days of negotiations brokered by the United States, Israel and Lebanon reached a new trilateral framework agreement aimed at ending the conflict in southern Lebanon.

The agreement was signed by the U.S., Israel and Lebanon on Friday at the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. It calls for the disarming of all non-governmental armed factions in Lebanon, the deployment of the Lebanese army in southern areas of the country and a complete Israeli withdrawal back to the border.

Hezbollah says it will oppose the agreement and work to defeat it politically and practically. The group did not wait long before making a very public stand.

Just minutes after the announcement in Washington, thousands of Hezbollah supporters took to the streets of the Lebanese capital Beirut late Friday vowing to stand firmly against the agreement.

Parliament members aligned with Hezbollah added that the government has no authority to sign such a deal and it will therefore never stand.

"There is no way any Lebanese government could implement any agreement signed with Israel because it doesn't have the strength, it doesn't have the means and because of Hezbollah being in the opposition and holding the government by its throat," said Dr. Jacques Neriah, an analyst for the Middle East at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu already said the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) will not withdraw from the security zone they maintain in Lebanese territory before Hezbollah is disarmed.

"It is up to the seriousness by the Lebanese military and until such time that the IDF sees that the Lebanese army is serious and can take the job, only then does Israel retreat and there are pilot projects and I think it's the best way to go about it," said Or Yissachar, executive director of Israeli think tank David Institute for Security Policy.