Building a productivity hub in the AI era, the spark of Beidian Digital Intelligence is starting a prairie fire.

From April 15th to April 20th, an event themed "Kick off the First Year of AI Productivity" was held in the Jiuxianqiao area of Beijing.

This AI feast was the first large - scale AI event held in this area. The collision of various cutting - edge AI topics naturally attracted the attention of the industry. With a duration of 6 days and a total of 11 large - scale forums, it attracted more than 300 partners and gathered key players from multiple parties in the AI industry, including government agencies, chip manufacturers, large - model providers, application scenario parties, developers, and so on.

The scene of the first Jiuxianqiao Forum

Interestingly, unlike many previous industry forums held in high - end hotels, this event was held at the "Beijing Digital Economy Computing Power Center" - a new intelligent computing center completed by Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence (a high - tech enterprise under Beijing Electronic Control Group focusing on the artificial intelligence field) in the Jiuxianqiao area in February this year, and it is now officially in operation.

Judging from its appearance alone, the Beijing Digital Economy Computing Power Center doesn't look like a traditional intelligent computing center. It's not a simple "black box" filled with bare metal and wires, but more like an artistic building full of cutting - edge technological flavor.

On the first floor here, the participants of this conference had intense intellectual exchanges. What they were concerned about was how to better leverage the power of AI under the global wave of technological change to jointly build a digital China.

The Beijing Digital Economy Computing Power Center is not only the venue for this event. In a deeper sense, it represents a new commercial exploration by Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence in the field of intelligent computing centers. For the Jiuxianqiao area, known as the "Cradle of China's Electronic Industry", this "AI factory" is also a powerful tool for them to seek new - quality productivity in the era of artificial intelligence.

Beijing Digital Economy Computing Power Center

The Chinese intelligent computing center industry urgently needs a "refresh"

In the past two years in the Chinese AI industry, intelligent computing centers have been one of the industries with the most concentrated capital and the highest attention. A remarkable phenomenon is that many listed companies with little previous experience in the AI industry have listed intelligent computing centers as their second growth curve, and many thousand - petaflop intelligent computing centers have been launched across the country.

As the infrastructure of AI, the domestic computing power industry has been booming. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, by the end of 2024, China's total computing power reached 280 EFLOPS (quadrillion floating - point operations per second, calculated in FP32 single - precision), of which the intelligent computing power scale reached 90 EFLOPS (FP32), accounting for 32%.

Intelligent computing power has been rapidly implemented in fields such as industry, education, healthcare, and energy. As of September 2024, the total number of computing power application projects in China exceeded 13,000. Supported by numerous industry players and capital, China's total computing power scale now ranks second in the world.

However, the boom in domestic intelligent computing center construction has raised some concerns. After the investment of hundreds of millions in building intelligent computing centers, the utilization rate of the computer rooms is not as high as expected. This reflects the pain points in the artificial intelligence industry. Specifically, at the chip level, when the import of chips is restricted, domestic chips are in a fragmented state, and the software and hardware ecosystems are separated, making it difficult to form a synergy, resulting in insufficient utilization of the computing power of clusters;

At the model level, there has been a trend of convergence this year driven by DeepSeek, and industry consensus is gradually being formed, but there are still compatibility problems. On the application side of AI, there are issues such as unclear application scenarios and the difficulty of activating the rich data in various industries.

More importantly, the underlying logic of intelligent computing centers in the past two years also needs to be adjusted to some extent.

In the view of Yang Zhen, the CMO and the person in charge of strategy and market at Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence, although both the current intelligent computing centers and the data centers in the past cloud - computing era aim to solve the problem of computing power, they are essentially two different forms. The latter follows the "second - landlord" logic, generating revenue by selling land, renting equipment, and renting electricity. When the old underlying logic is applied to the new industry, problems gradually emerge.

Overall, there are structural contradictions in the upstream and downstream industrial chains of intelligent computing centers, and an overall refresh is urgently needed. The Beijing Digital Economy Computing Power Center established by Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence is a new attempt based on the above - mentioned industry pain points.

A new answer: "One foundation + Two platforms"

The so - called "refresh" has two manifestations.

Firstly, there is innovation in architectural space. In appearance, the Beijing Digital Economy Computing Power Center is like a work of art. The horizontal and vertical lines on the exterior of the building organically integrate the lighting system and art installations, symbolizing that it connects computing power, data, and application scenarios.

Art is a form of expression. Through this, Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence transforms the abstract and difficult - to - understand intelligent computing center in the public's mind into a tangible urban landmark.

When you enter the first floor of the Beijing Digital Economy Computing Power Center, there is a whole new world inside. It is equipped with exhibition spaces, forum spaces, a series of joint laboratories, and collaborative office spaces.

In the future, you may also see various AI art exhibitions and AI forums held here, just like the recent "First Year of AI Productivity" First Jiuxianqiao Forum.

Exhibition space of Beijing Digital Economy Computing Power Center

This open - design concept did not exist in previous computing centers. With the open - minded thinking running through the building, the "AI factory" of the Beijing Digital Economy Computing Power Center is no longer just an infrastructure but more like a stage for artificial intelligence. "We believe it should also be an industrial agglomeration base where people can exchange ideas, display their achievements, and attract investment," said Yang Zhen.

Secondly, beyond the appearance of architectural design, before the actual operation of the Beijing Digital Economy Computing Power Center, a new operation model of "One foundation + Two platforms" was designed to address the above - mentioned industry pain points.

Specifically, this "AI foundation" comprehensively considers the difficulties in chips, models, data, and operation mentioned above.

It is reported that at the computing power level, considering the high "software wall" of domestic chips, the Beijing Digital Economy Computing Power Center enables various domestic chips to achieve heterogeneous and multi - adaptive capabilities through its hybrid heterogeneous computing power, allowing scattered computing power clusters to work together;

At the model level, Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence provides convenient and efficient model development and data tools, enabling all users to find suitable toolchains to input data and distill appropriate large models, greatly improving the efficiency of model training and inference;

At the data level, Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence revitalizes industry data by constructing a "trusted" multi - level solution;

At the operation level, Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence deploys a digital twin system and an intelligent operation and maintenance management platform to enable the center to operate visually.

After the intelligent computing center is built, it is also necessary to consider how to make it more accessible and provide inclusive computing power for all industries. For this reason, Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence has also constructed two key platforms - the "Traditional Industry Empowerment Platform + Emerging Industry Acceleration Platform".

The reason for splitting it into a dual - engine model is that different industries have different demands for AI at present.

For emerging industries, AI is not just an added bonus but the foundation and support for industrial development. For traditional industries, AI plays a vital role. Business owners are considering how to use AI, a new tool, in combination with the industry data accumulated in the past to empower the industry - such as reducing costs and improving efficiency.

Therefore, Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence's "Traditional Industry Empowerment Platform" covers multiple traditional fields including healthcare, education, and culture with a vertical model matrix. Its "Emerging Industry Acceleration Platform" focuses on cutting - edge fields such as low - altitude economy, embodied intelligence, and AI4S to promote the industrialization of AI.

Taking the healthcare scenario as an example, after a year of efforts, Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence has cooperated with many hospitals to explore various "special - disease models", achieving intelligent upgrades in medical services and medical research, and realizing the trusted operation of medical data through the "Medical Trusted Data Space".

The spark is starting to spread

If we use a metaphor to understand the current situation of the Chinese artificial intelligence industry, "a plate of scattered pearls" is quite appropriate. At present, China already has key elements such as chips, models, applications, data, and developers, and each element is quite competitive on its own, but there is a lack of a real "pearl - stringer" to organically link these elements.

This is why there has been a fragmented phenomenon in the past AI industry: model providers can't find applications, application parties can't find computing power, and computing power providers are troubled by the problem of consumption.

It is worth noting that the thinking behind the "AI factory" established by Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence in Jiuxianqiao coincides with the trend in the artificial intelligence industry this year. In 2025, both model providers and chip manufacturers are trying to step out of their comfort zones, using their strengths as a fulcrum to cooperate with upstream partners and leverage downstream scenarios, attempting to string the pearls together.

Dr. Xie Dong, the Chief Technology Officer of Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence, said that the advantage of Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence lies in its "three - dimensional" approach -

Vertically, Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence has deployed full - stack capabilities, while "other companies either provide computing power services, or model services, or develop a single software independently";

Horizontally, Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence tries to connect the entire industrial chain, cooperate closely with different regions, cities, and industries, and jointly create. In terms of different ecosystems, the technologies and products of Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence have been truly applied.

Through the "vertical, horizontal, and ecological" layout, "Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence connects the entire chain, and the technology can be quickly implemented. This is our difference and advantage," said Xie Dong.

Therefore, for Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence, the "AI factory" of the Beijing Digital Economy Computing Power Center is not the end but a starting point. It is the first stop on their long - march to "build a digital China" in the field of artificial intelligence.

After this experience, Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence will also promote the "Ten Vertical and Ten Horizontal" business strategy, promoting the implementation of AI in multiple regions such as Foshan, Zhuhai, and Chengdu, and in multiple vertical fields such as healthcare and finance.

Beyond the business perspective, the Beijing Digital Economy Computing Power Center is also a powerful practice in the context of exploring new - quality productivity.

In the long - term development of the Chinese economy, the Jiuxianqiao area has never been absent. During the "First Five - Year Plan" period, it was the core base of the national electronic industry, developing China's first computer, first electron tube, and first switch. In the era of artificial intelligence, how can the Jiuxianqiao area make a successful transformation?

When technology, tools, industry participants, and capital converge in one place, in the foreseeable future, this "AI factory" may become the fulcrum and tool for the Jiuxianqiao area to leverage the artificial intelligence industry.

Yang Zhen, the Chief Marketing Officer of Beijing Electronic Digital Intelligence, delivering a keynote speech

In Yang Zhen's view, as a landmark building in the Jiuxianqiao area, the Beijing Digital Economy Computing Power Center has a "huge appeal for talent, industry, and capital. 'The Jiuxianqiao area in the new era needs to be illuminated, and someone needs to hold up a small flashlight or a small candle,' said Yang Zhen.

Not only for the Jiuxianqiao area, the new model of the Beijing Digital Economy Computing Power Center may also inspire other local governments.

In the past, local governments mainly subsidized companies with AI needs in the form of computing power vouchers, which was rather scattered and ineffective. In the future, local governments may participate in the artificial intelligence industry from a higher - dimensional perspective of industrial hubs, more precisely and forcefully support the AI industry, and at the same time drive the prosperity and transformation of local original industries.

AI is not just the search engine input box tool we know. It is a trillion - dollar industry and the "spark" for local areas to seek transformation towards new - quality productivity. As the "White Paper on China's Computing Power Development Index (2023)" previously released by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology pointed out, for every 1 yuan invested in computing power, it will drive 3 to 4 yuan of GDP growth.

Yang Zhen predicts that in the future, intelligent computing centers based on industrial operations will attract many small and medium - sized companies and developers, who will build their own applications and products based on this, contributing to the artificial intelligence industry.

In the past, the cruel technology industry followed the principle of "winner takes all". The first - place winner got all the benefits, and the second - place winner could only get the leftovers. When intelligent computing power becomes as accessible as water, electricity, and gas, it is actually "a process of technological equality," said Yang Zhen.

AI, like a spark, is starting to spread across the land.