Ushering in the intelligent future with AI for all

Li's speech focused on ZTE's strategic innovations in AI, intelligent infrastructure, and the transformation from 5G to 6G.

In her keynote titled “Digital and Intelligent Evolution: Usher in a New Era of AI Civilization”, Li emphasised that large AI models are driving a global wave of intelligent revolution. Li highlighted ZTE’s commitment to advancing efficient infrastructure, optimised algorithms, and practical applications to democratise AI across industries.

ZTE is building an intelligent foundation integrating "network, computing, and energy", and pursuing multidimensional evolution through data, algorithms, and technology. With its "AI for All" philosophy, the company aims to embed AI into consumer, home, and industry settings, fostering a more integrated digital ecosystem while addressing privacy, security, and ethics concerns.

At the summit, Li expanded on ZTE’s work across three pillars: advanced connectivity, intelligent computing, and edge-terminal deployment. She reaffirmed ZTE’s role in evolving networks from 5G to 5G-A and toward 6G, positioning these advancements as the neural infrastructure for the intelligent era.

ZTE is driving efficiency through integrated computing platforms, edge computing, and AI-native networks. Its full-stack, full-scenario intelligent solutions support both general-purpose and AI workloads while reducing societal costs and carbon emissions. “The world of intelligent connectivity is not a solo,” Li said. “It’s a symphony of the entire ecosystem.”

Li underscored that as AI advances, the focus remains on high-performance infrastructure, efficient algorithms, and impactful applications. Since ChatGPT’s release in 2022, major breakthroughs have emerged—from multimodal integration like OpenAI’s Sora to advanced reasoning via o1.

ZTE supports this evolution by building computing frameworks that provide scalable, end-to-end solutions across hardware, software, and AI models. Through platforms like ZTE AIS and Co-Sight, the company enables efficient training and deployment of AI models, making the technology more accessible and cost-effective.

In green infrastructure, ZTE employs modular designs, intelligent power configurations, and prefabricated data centers to improve deployment times and reduce energy consumption—achieving over 10% efficiency gains in cooling energy use.

Li emphasised that AI capabilities must go beyond scale. Data quality, algorithmic precision, and technical refinement are key. ZTE is improving data accuracy using standardised sample libraries, automated labeling, and synthetic data to address rare use cases.

To strengthen cognitive capabilities, ZTE combines technologies such as Retrieval-Augmented Generation, Multimodal Learning, Reinforcement Learning, and Chain of Thought reasoning. These techniques enhance learning depth, reduce hallucinations, and increase decision-making accuracy.

ZTE’s Nebula Coder-V6 model demonstrated these capabilities by tying for first in reasoning at SuperCLUE’s May 2025 evaluation and winning a silver medal overall.

The company also supports emerging AI agent ecosystems through initiatives like Anthropic’s MCP and Google’s A2A, which allow seamless interaction between AI agents, external tools, and APIs—creating a "rainforest" of organised, collaborative AI.

ZTE is focused on reducing barriers for real-world AI deployment. By aligning general-purpose and domain-specific models, and using digital twins to mirror physical environments, the company enables rapid, precise AI responses in both consumer and industrial settings.

In consumer applications, ZTE integrates AI into sensory-driven experiences across smartphones, headphones, and PCs. In homes, the company combines FTTR + Wi-Fi 7 networks, AI smart displays, and cloud PCs to enable seamless connectivity and proactive services. AI-powered robots add a layer of emotional intelligence, particularly for children and healthcare use cases.

In industry, ZTE's Nebula Coder boosts R&D efficiency through advanced code generation, while its Industrial and Telecom models shorten production cycles and improve network energy efficiency by up to 15%. ZTE’s solutions have been deployed across 18 verticals with over 100 practical use cases.

Cui Li concluded with a call for open collaboration. ZTE, she said, aims to enhance its product competitiveness, deepen industry partnerships, and continue building an open, trustworthy ecosystem that supports ethical and inclusive AI development.

“Let’s work together,” she said, “to promote digital and intelligent advancements across all industries and usher in a new era of AI civilisation.”

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