2025 Zhongguancun Forum highlights AI, humanoid robots

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The 2025 Zhongguancun Forum (ZGC Forum) is underway in Beijing, bringing together global experts and industry leaders to discuss cutting-edge advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and humanoid robot innovation.

The ZGC Forum features a series of events including the "AI Theme Days" which run from March 27 to 31. This segment comprises two core forums, five specialized forums, and many featured activities.

Seven significant AI achievements were unveiled at the Future Artificial Intelligence Pioneer Forum on Saturday, including the Beijing AI Public Computing Platform Eco-Network. This network will amalgamate computing resources nationwide and optimize resource allocation, thus garnering considerable attention and discussion from attendees.

Li Dahai, co-founder and CEO of ModelBest, an AI technology company, expressed enthusiasm about the platform's potential to provide high-quality computing services at a lower cost, and to facilitate innovation.

"Through such a plan, we can obtain very good computing power services, which have not only high quality but also lower cost. This is extremely helpful for us to better engage in innovative work. In fact, the government has also built a good data trading platform on the basis of the computing power platform. Through such a data trading platform, we can also more conveniently access more data providers, allowing large models to have more data nourishment," he said.

This year's ZGC forum also spotlights various humanoid robots, showcasing the boundless applications of new technologies.

The humanoid robot of "Tiangong" can adeptly navigates challenging terrains involving slopes, rocks, and sandbags, showcasing its skills in traversing complex landscapes. 

"Our goal is to imbue robots with true intelligence, enabling them to comprehend commands, interpret their surroundings, autonomously plan task sequences, and ultimately assist in achieving objectives. In scenarios like electricity inspection which involved high voltage power cabinets, the ‘Tiangong’ robot can execute relatively hazardous maneuvers with precision," said Li Yipeng, a staff member at the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center.

Meanwhile, another humanoid robot also demonstrated football playing and completed with celebratory gestures after scoring a goal.

A robot developed by the Linkerbot Beijing Technology, capable of playing the piano with dexterity, stands out for its nimble hands. It can effortlessly handle tasks like screwing bolts and conducting research experiments.

"The robot can perform very delicate operations, such as tightening screws, in advanced manufacturing applications," said Zou Hanzhang, a staff member of the marketing department of the company.

According to the organizer, this year's ZGC Forum displays nearly 100 representative robots from 15 companies, and the humanoid robots are breaking new ground with AI in entertainment, commercial services, and are progressively finding applications in logistics sorting, healthcare and elderly care sectors.

2025 Zhongguancun Forum highlights AI, humanoid robots

The Trump administration's decision to impose "reciprocal tariffs" on all trade partners has sparked panic among investors, sending all three major U.S. stock indices into sharp declines on Thursday, with European stock markets also seeing significant losses, while the U.S. Dollar Index dropped substantially.

As of the close on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1,679.39 points to 40,545.93, down 3.98 percent, marking its largest single-day decline since June 2020.

The S and P 500 lost 274.45 points to settle at 5,396.52 points, a 4.84 percent decrease, its biggest drop since June 2020. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq Composite fell 1,050.44 points to 16,550.61 points, down 5.97 percent, marking its largest single-day fall since March 2020.

The sell-off was widespread, with key individual stocks also taking a hit. Nike saw a steep 14 percent drop in its share price, while Apple fell by 9 percent. Bank stocks were under heavy pressure, with Western Alliance Bank dropping nearly 16 percent, Citigroup losing about 12 percent, and Bank of America slipping 11 percent.

In the small-cap segment, the Russell 2000 Index saw a notable decline of more than 6 percent. Compared to its peak in November of last year, the index has now dropped over 20 percent, entering a technical bear market.

This marks a stark contrast to the surge seen after the U.S. presidential election, when small-cap stocks were seen as beneficiaries of deregulation, tax cuts, and tariffs.

UBS analysts warned of the potential long-term economic consequences of the tariffs, suggesting that if they persist, inflation could rise sharply, severely impacting the macroeconomy, and potentially leading to significant deterioration in both U.S. and global economic growth and inflation over the next year.

The firm's U.S. economic team estimates that real GDP could decline by 1.5 to 2 percentage points in 2025, with inflation possibly reaching 5 percent.

Meanwhile, European markets followed suit, with all three major stock indices experiencing losses. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index closed at 8,474.74 points, down 133.74 points, or 1.55 percent, from the previous trading day. The French CAC40 dropped by 259.85 points to 7,598.98 points, a 3.31 percent decrease. In Germany, the DAX Index closed at 21,717.39 points, down 673.45 points, a 3.01 percent drop.

The U.S. Dollar Index, which tracks the greenback against six key currencies, including the euro and the British pound, dropped 1.67 percent to 102.073, while the euro and pound both strengthened as investors sought safer assets amid rising market volatility.

US tariff moves trigger market panic, major indices suffer sharp losses