AsianFin -- Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is no longer a question of “if” but “when,” according to Alibaba Group CEO Eddie Wu Yongming, who argued that the real destination is super artificial intelligence (ASI) capable of self-iteration and surpassing humans across all domains.

Speaking at the 2025 APSARA Conference in Hangzhou on Wednesday, Wu said such technology could help humanity solve its toughest challenges, from climate change and energy to interstellar travel.

Wu predicted that in the future, the number of intelligent agents and robots could outnumber the global population, working alongside people and profoundly reshaping the real world.

He outlined a three-step path toward ASI: the emergence of intelligence as AI learns human knowledge; autonomous action as AI gains tool use and coding skills to assist humans — the stage he believes the industry is in today; and self-iteration, where AI leverages raw data from the physical world to learn independently and ultimately “surpass humans.”