Chinese companies are expected to start generating significant revenue from AI agents as early as 2026, according to a report by UBS. AI agents are software systems that use artificial intelligence to plan and perform complex tasks autonomously. The report highlights that advancements in AI technology, increased adoption, and open-source frameworks are driving this trend.
Several Chinese tech giants, including Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group Holding, and ByteDance, are designing AI "agentic frameworks" to build and manage AI agents. These companies are also open-sourcing their agentic AI frameworks, which could accelerate innovation and challenge US rivals in the global AI market.
Alibaba's cloud revenue has already shown significant growth, driven by strong AI demand. The company's AI revenue has maintained triple-digit growth, with plans to invest heavily in AI infrastructure. ByteDance has open-sourced its agent development platform Coze Studio and is scaling up its recruitment drive for AI roles. Tencent has also open-sourced its Youtu-Agent agentic framework, aiming to simplify the agent configuration process.
The US market for AI agents generates around $15-20 billion in annual revenue, driven by businesses' familiarity with advanced software and sophisticated AI models. China has the potential to replicate this success, with companies like Alibaba, ByteDance, and Tencent driving innovation and adoption in the AI space. As the AI landscape continues to evolve, Chinese companies are well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for AI agents.
