According to IDC data, China's overall AI market reached $2.18 billion in the first half of 2021. Since 2015—often regarded as the year AI achieved a breakthrough—the AI industry has entered its "second half," marking seven years of robust growth and development.

On January 7, 2022, the "Kunpeng Hui" series of ecosystem events—focused on AI Technology and Applications, featuring an industry salon—was successfully held at Dongsha Lake Fund Town. The event was organized by Yuanhe Chencun and co-hosted by the Suzhou Industrial Park Listed Companies Association and the Suzhou Industrial Park Artificial Intelligence Industry Association.

This event features the Chief Architect of SenseTime's Intelligent Industry Research Institute, a member of the Expert Committee of the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Technology Association, and an expert on the Guizhou Big Data Expert Committee. Yin Zhi ; Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Executive Director of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Suzhou Institute of Artificial Intelligence, and Chief Scientist at iFLYTEK Technology Co., Ltd. Yu Kai ; Partner at Fire Phoenix Capital Chen Yuetian ; Vice President of Baidu Life Sciences Zhou Da ; Managing Partner at Yuan Yi Capital Yang Ruirong , delving into the integration and applications of AI technology across industries such as smart cities, interactive dialogue systems, the metaverse, and biomedicine, as well as exploring future development trends and investment prospects. Deputy General Manager, Suzhou Industrial Park Science & Technology Development Co., Ltd. Wu Wenjie Also shared with both online and offline guests the park's progress in developing the AI industry, as well as relevant policies.

Yin Zhi, Chief Architect of SenseTime Intelligent Industry Research Institute, gave a presentation titled "Everything Connected, Everything Intelligent—AI and Technology Applications in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution." Following the path from cross-system integration (integration of the digital world), to cross-domain convergence (fusion of digital and physical worlds), and then to cross-boundary integration (fusion of digital, physical, and biological worlds), a clear trend of everything being interconnected and intelligent emerges: At the cross-system stage, independent operations within a specific industry or field, which previously involved extensive manual collaboration across various processes, will be continuously integrated into mutually driven, overall optimized automated processes through intelligent data routing on industry- or enterprise-level data platforms and best practices in machine learning. Within the cross-domain scope, after everything is interconnected and intelligent, originally unrelated heterogeneous entities will either communicate independently or become parts of an intelligent system composed of layered components including edge, network, and cloud, thereby collaborating systematically. The next industrial revolution will bring unprecedented depth and breadth of connectivity and collaboration across every dimension of the digital, physical, and biological worlds.

In his presentation titled "Conversational AI and Its Applications," Dr. Yu Kai, Chief Scientist at iFLYTEK, emphasized that, when it comes to voice as a perception channel, truly achieving transformative AI platform innovation requires adopting a full-stack, conversational approach. He highlighted that the primary challenge currently facing AI platforms lies in the tension between the general-purpose technologies offered by tech providers and the highly personalized, system-level application needs of users. Dr. Yu noted that for AI technology to thrive, it must be flexible, customizable, and capable of delivering tailored experiences for individual users—essentially enabling "a thousand faces for a thousand people." Looking ahead, he argued that intelligent conversational AI won't be a one-size-fits-all solution but rather a set of uniquely customized, industry-specific conversational AI systems. This vision will require seamless collaboration among algorithms, resources, and engineering expertise.

Chen Yuetian, Partner at Fire Phoenix Capital, shared insights on AI and the Metaverse. The Metaverse aims to immerse users fully in an online world, enabling them to absorb vast amounts of information through visual experiences. As a critical component of the Metaverse, AI must learn to assist—and even "replace"—human interactions. In the Metaverse, AI serves as a powerful driver and enabler of content creation, while also acting as the bridge between the real and virtual worlds, ultimately fostering a seamlessly integrated social network where physical and digital realities coexist.

Zhou Da, Vice President of Baitu BioScience, delivered a keynote speech titled "A Breakthrough Drug Platform Powered by a Bio-Computing Engine." AI technology, multi-omics approaches, and cutting-edge advancements in the life sciences are continuously emerging. In the field of drug discovery, the integration of multi-omics technologies enables direct observation of vast, complex datasets spanning multiple dimensions—such as intricate relationships among cellular targets, nuanced interactions between cells in the microenvironment, sophisticated linkages among epitopes within a target, and intricate connections among antibody components. Faced with these high-dimensional, multifaceted biological datasets, AI tools leverage their robust algorithms and computational power to extract meaningful insights from interconnected data, iteratively refining predictive capabilities through continuous validation. By harnessing the bio-computing engine, researchers can now systematically map dynamic processes—like those governing the immune system—and accelerate the efficiency of subsequent drug development efforts.

Yang Ruirong, Managing Partner at YuanYi Capital, shared insights on the topic of "Investment Opportunities in AI and the Digital Healthcare Industry." Today, digital technology has become the core driver of business transformation, and AI-powered digital innovations are now sparking a new wave of medical breakthroughs. China is poised to emerge as the world's largest market for digital healthcare innovation. Against this industry backdrop, digitalization is rapidly accelerating the shift toward a "patient-centric" era. Ultimately, three key pillars—efficient patient engagement, innovative payment models, and enhanced operational efficiency—are set to fundamentally reshape China's healthcare infrastructure.

During the policy-sharing session, Wu Wenjie, Deputy General Manager of Suzhou Industrial Park Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd., presented an overview of the AI industry development in Suzhou Industrial Park, highlighting its locational, policy, industrial, research-education resource, and talent advantages. He also outlined support initiatives aimed at fostering corporate financing, operational growth, talent development, and strategic business partnerships. Mr. Wu expressed his hope that more industry-investment-research institutions would establish themselves in the park, joining forces with leading AI companies like Microsoft, Huawei, iFLYTEK, and SenseTime, as well as numerous innovative AI startups, to accelerate Suzhou Industrial Park’s mission of becoming a national "Next-Generation Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Development Pilot Zone."

"Kunpeng Hui" is a high-end industry event crafted by Yuanhe Chencun, designed as a flagship fund ecosystem that brings together LPs, GPs, innovative enterprises, and industry stakeholders. Each session focuses on trending industry sectors and growth areas, inviting renowned fund investors, corporate executives, and leading industry experts to continuously foster an open knowledge platform within the fund ecosystem itself, a deep-connecting hub for capital providers and industry players, and a vibrant networking space where entrepreneurs meet investors.