On September 24, during the Yunqi Conference, Wu Yongming, the CEO of Alibaba Group as well as the Chairman & CEO of Alibaba Cloud Intelligence Group, made a bold declaration. He emphasized that the realization of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is no longer a matter of "if" but "when." However, he stressed that AGI should be viewed not as the pinnacle but rather as the starting line. The true endgame, according to Wu, is the creation of Super Artificial Intelligence (ASI), an entity capable of self-improvement and surpassing human capabilities across the board. This vision for ASI is driven by the ambition to tackle monumental scientific challenges, including climate change, energy crises, and interstellar exploration.

Wu outlined a three-stage roadmap to reach this lofty goal. The inaugural stage, termed the "emergence of intelligence," envisions AI acquiring generalized intelligence through the assimilation of human knowledge. The second phase, dubbed "autonomous action," sees AI advancing to a level where it can master tool usage and programming skills, thereby becoming a valuable "assistant to humans." Wu noted that the industry is currently navigating this stage. The final and most transformative stage, "self-iteration," envisions AI achieving autonomous learning by tapping into the vast reservoir of raw data in the physical world, ultimately leading to a scenario where AI "surpasses humans."