The era of AI Agents is accelerating, with listed companies actively making strategic moves

“Future AI agents may surpass humans, and humans will live in a world with hundreds of millions or even billions of AI agents,” predicted Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in an interview this July. A report from Bank of America also pointed out that AI evolution is on the eve of the third wave—Agentic AI is imminent.

In the second half of this year, AI Agents have become a hot topic, attracting major tech giants like Microsoft, Apple, Google, and OpenAI to invest heavily in this field. In the domestic market, large model vendors, internet companies, and listed corporations are actively deploying AI Agents.

As more companies develop AI Agent products and ecosystems, industry insiders expect 2025 to be the year of explosive growth for AI Agents. Galaxy Securities predicts that by 2028, China’s AI Agent market size will surge to 852 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 72.7%.

Companies Enter the AI Agent Competition

An AI Agent, also called “AI intelligent agent,” is a system driven by large language models that possesses autonomous understanding, perception, planning, memory, and tool usage capabilities, enabling the automation of complex tasks. Unlike traditional AI, AI Agents can think independently and call tools to gradually achieve given goals.

For example, if a user wants to go out for dinner, a large language model can suggest dining locations and related information. An AI Agent not only provides restaurant recommendations but can also search based on the user’s budget, execute reservations, add the trip to the calendar, and send reminders.

Since the second half of this year, AI Agents have gained significant attention, with tech giants like Microsoft, Apple, Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic announcing related developments.

In June, Apple showcased its latest AI achievement, Apple Intelligence, at the developer conference. In November, Microsoft released over ten commercial AI Agents at “Microsoft Ignite 2024.” Google followed suit, announcing full promotion of commercial AI Agents, launching a series of incentive activities and products, and releasing one of the few global markets for commercial AI Agents. OpenAI plans to launch a new AI Agent product codenamed “Operator” in January 2025.

In the domestic market, companies like Zhipu have also focused on AI Agents, and a competition centered around “AI Agents” is quietly underway.

On October 25, Zhipu released AutoGLM Intelligent Agent, capable of understanding user intent through voice commands, simulating human behavior, and automatically completing tasks such as ordering takeout, booking flights, and hotels. On November 29, Zhipu launched an upgraded version supporting autonomous execution of long-step tasks with over 50 steps, and flexible switching between different apps during task execution.

Zhipu believes that large AI models are shifting from Chat to Act, and in the future, a unified AI intelligent agent will operate various hardware devices to improve human-computer interaction efficiency. As computing power increases, models and terminal-cloud collaborative architectures compatible with native AI devices will gradually emerge, with smart devices like smartphones, PCs, cars, glasses, and home appliances rapidly proliferating.

Besides Zhipu, companies like ByteDance, Baidu, Tencent, and Alibaba are also deploying AI Agents, including ByteDance’s Coze Agent platform, Baidu’s Qianfan AgentBuilder development tool, and Kunlun Wanyuan’s SkyAgents.

Multiple Listed Companies Deploy AI Agents

As domestic companies compete in AI Agent development, several A-share listed companies are also actively involved.

For example, iFlytek has launched AI assistants targeting education, healthcare, judiciary, and government services. Jincai Hulian’s “Xin Zhi Yue” financial and tax large model adopts an open architecture, combining company financial and tax products with an open platform to build a financial and tax AI Agent.

Zhongke Jincai’s AI Agent development and operation platform offers functions like agent creation, multi-base model invocation, and workflow definition, capable of automatically routing and scheduling the most suitable large model based on industry scenarios to create agents. The company states that Zhongke Jincai’s AI Agent can understand multiple intents, automatically perform multi-tasking based on user instructions or context, learn user preferences, and provide personalized services, achieving highly human-like full-link natural language interaction.

Xin Guodu’s subsidiary, Shanghai Shierqu, is dedicated to researching general-purpose AI Agent technology, focusing on multimodal AI technology and products.

Xin Kaipu launched a campus life AI product called “Xiao Mei Tongxue” in October, based on Pangu and Tongyi Qianwen large models.

On December 9, when asked whether they have deployed AI Agents, Techcon said the company has been advancing product and technology development in this area. For example, their Rubik Avatar integrates multiple AI technologies, including machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision, based on edge computing and naked-eye 3D technology, utilizing Qualcomm’s high-performance chips and the Kanzi 3D rendering engine for real-time rendering.

Naxing Co., Ltd. recently responded to investor inquiries, stating that their subsidiary, Yixian Network, is deeply collaborating with leading AI companies like Microsoft, providing efficient, intelligent AIGC applications and solutions. Their product Xiaolu is an AI assistant supporting intelligent chat and knowledge base Q&A.

Coot Intelligent responded to investor questions on December 17, stating that their Coot AI Agents 2.0 aims to become a universal digital intelligence tool and assistant to help traditional enterprises upgrade digitally. The 2.0 version is currently under development.

2025 Could See a Commercial Explosion of AI Agents

Industry experts generally believe that 2025 will be the year of AI Agent explosion.

Shanxi Securities reports that agents are expected to be widely deployed in 2025, driving increased demand for computing power and further expanding AI infrastructure investments.

Debon Securities also predicts that by 2025, AI Agents may experience a breakout, leading to a qualitative leap in the terminal market. As agent networks take shape and market penetration increases, a solid business model ecosystem will form within the AI industry.

“Currently, tech giants like Apple, Google, and OpenAI see Agents as a key focus for 2025. That year could mark the explosion of Agents, further driving AI application deployment,” said Zhong Jianshu, an analyst at Changjiang Securities.

Tang Fangxin, head of government and enterprise business at Wanshing Technology, believes that AI Agent development is transitioning from “experimental” to “applied,” though not yet mature. With continuous improvements in computing power, machine learning, and natural language processing, AI Agents are increasingly capable of understanding user intent, providing personalized services, and executing complex tasks. Currently, AI Agents are already applied in customer service, smart home, and personal assistant fields, and are expanding into more industries and scenarios.

Tang also sees ongoing evolution, moving from “usable” to “easy to use.” For example, Wanshing’s interactive digital human business can significantly address scenarios like exhibition explanations, smart demonstrations, speeches, and corporate receptions, using AI digital humans to introduce services and enhance visitor experience.

However, Tang emphasizes that deploying AI Agents involves extensive collection and processing of user data, raising privacy and security concerns such as data misuse and leaks. AI Agents rely on local computing power and large models, requiring high technical maturity, integration, implementation, and operational capabilities. The current focus should be on expanding from single scenarios to interconnected ones, accumulating mature pathways and solutions, while strengthening security and privacy regulation, and exploring openly.

“From ‘training’ to ‘reasoning,’ AI intelligent agents will be an essential step toward the era of artificial general intelligence,” said Galaxy Securities. As large models rapidly iterate and upgrade, AI intelligent agents based on these models are entering a phase of rapid development. Their rise is reshaping the AI industry chain and creating new investment opportunities. By 2028, China’s AI agent market size is expected to surge to 852 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 72.7%. The AI intelligent agent industry chain is a diverse and highly collaborative ecosystem with vast future market potential.