AI Giants in Lisbon: Alibaba International and Terminus Group Unveil AI Agents

Web Summit, dubbed the “Olympics of Tech”, recently concluded in Lisbon, Portugal’s emerging “new tech capital”. The event attracted over 70,000 global political, business, and technology influential figures, who engaged in in-depth discussions on cutting-edge topics such as digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity. Over its three-day span, the summit showcased the latest trends in the global digital economy and the future of technological innovation. Notably, the application of AI in personal contexts and the global tech race became focuses of discussion, drawing significant attention from industry leaders.

Generative AI Leads the Interaction Revolution, AI Agents Take Center Stage

As the so-called “battle of the  Large Language Models (LLMs)” reaches its midpoint, questions like “Where is the limit of the scaling law?” and “What’s next for LLMs?” have become central concerns for AI companies. This year’s summit interestingly saw global AI powers, including Qualcomm, Terminus Group, Alibaba International, and Hugging Face converge on a common bet: AI Agents.

Cristiano Amon, Qualcomm President & CEO at the Web Summit

Qualcomm President and CEO Cristiano Amon emphasized that AI Agent will be critical for humans to fully harness the opportunities AI offers. According to him, generative AI will redefine how people interact with computing devices. In October, Qualcomm unveiled its Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which powers on-device generative AI. Amon noted, the Snapdragon chipset acts as the interface between the user and the screen, enabling users to experience generative AI.

Victor AI, Founder and CEO of Terminus Group: The Number of AI Agents Will Surpass Humans

Another major proponent of the interaction revolution is Terminus Group, a Chinese company specializing in AIoT. Founder and CEO of Terminus Group Victor AI, in his keynote speech, shared his observations on the evolution in human-machine interaction. He explained that interaction in the intelligent era is shifting from CLI (Command Line Interface) and GUI (Graphical User Interface) to CUI (Conversational User Interface) and even BMI (Brain-Machine Interface). In the current CUI-dominated environment, AI Agents have emerged as the central medium for human-machine interaction.

Victor AI, Founder and CEO of Terminus Group, Unveils AGI Agent Hali

Victor AI argued that in the era of artificial general intelligence, the number of AI Agents will far exceed that of humans, thus requiring superior agents capable of orchestrating multimodal intelligence and coordinating collaboration among multiple agents. During his presentation, AI announced the launch of Hali, the first-generation AGIAgent developed by Terminus Group in collaboration with BUTTONS, an international luxury smart-tech brand. AI outlined Hali’s unique features, distinguishing it from traditional generative AI and large language models: slow thinking, long memory, perception of the physical world, and teamwork. Hali interacts with users in real time through wearable devices and seamlessly collaborates with other agents, serving as both an assistant and companion. Coincidentally, the first consumer product featuring Hali, the BUTTONS POP smart earbuds, is also powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chipset.

Zhang Kuo, President of Alibaba.com: AI Is the Perfect Solution for Global Trade

Another major company from China, Alibaba.com, focused on the transformative impact of AI Agents on B2B industries. President Zhang Kuo highlighted the complexities of global trade and described AI as the perfect technology to address such challenges. On stage at the Web Summit, Zhang unveiled Accio, a B2B AI search engine developed by Alibaba International. Users can ask Accio questions in plain language, and through multi-turn dialogues, the system interprets their needs. Acting like a professional agent equipped with deep B2B industry expertise, Accio breaks down requests and offers tailored solutions.

Thomas Wolf, Hugging Face’s Co-founder and Chief Science Officer (CSO), at the Web Summit

On the other side of the spectrum, Hugging Face, founded in 2016 as an open-source AI model repository, emphasized the growing importance of small models. Thomas Wolf, co-founder and CEO of Hugging Face, explained at the summit that the rise of smaller language models could drive new advancements in robotics in the coming months. “You need low latency for robotics, and we see smaller models as part of that,” Wolf said.

The Global Tech Race: Will “Machine” Become the Ultimate Winner?

As AI technology advances at an unprecedented pace, the global competition in technology emerged as another key topic of discussion at this year’s Web Summit.  

Brad Smith, Microsoft Vice Chair and President: China is Catching Up and Surpassing the West

Microsoft Vice Chair and President Brad Smith highlighted the rapid progress of Chinese technology, which he believes is now on par with and in some areas surpassing the West. “People who don't go to China too often assume that they're behind. But when you go there, you're impressed by how much they're doing ,.” Smith remarked. He predicted that competition between enterprises from the world’s two major tech powers will continue far into the future.  

Paddy Cosgrave, Web Summit CEO

Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave echoed similar sentiments about the speed of China’s technological advancements. On the summit’s closing day, he noted that China’s innovation is accelerating and will continue to shape the discourse of the global tech industry. He cited a critical technology report published in August, which revealed a stunning leap in China’s capabilities: from leading in just three of 64 key technologies between 2003 and 2007 to leading in 57 of those same technologies from 2019 to 2023. “China is a major leader in the 21st century, it's clear,”  Cosgrave said.