AI agents are moving to end devices, the personal AI era is coming

On July 27, 2026, a roundtable event titled 'The Next Stop of the Terminal Industry in the Agent Era' was held in Beijing, gathering economists, researchers, and industry experts. The event highlighted that 2026 is seen as the year of AI agents, with AI evolving from simple command-response tools to autonomous systems. Wang Zhe from Caixin Think Tank noted a turning point where AI is moving from model and infrastructure building to application explosion. IDC China Vice President Wang Jiping released a white paper commissioned by Qualcomm, 'From AI Devices to Personal AI: Agent-Driven Terminal Evolution and Industrial Restructuring', which emphasizes the shift from cloud-only to end-edge-cloud computing architecture. Qualcomm's product technology expert Zhu Yuankun introduced the Qualcomm AI Engine (Oryon CPU, Adreno GPU, Hexagon NPU) and stressed the importance of personalization, always-on sensing, and privacy security for personal AI. Panelists including Rokid's Zhou Sen and KZ (Digital Life Kazek) agreed that future terminals will be agent endpoints, with smartphones and smart glasses becoming key personal AI carriers. The event concluded that open collaboration and ecosystem building are essential for scaling personal AI.