Introduction

On May 8, 2026, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the Ministry of Commerce jointly released the series of national standards titled “Intelligent Classification of AI Terminals” (GB/Z 177—2026). These standards specify the requirements for various products, including smartphones, computers, televisions, glasses, automotive cockpits, speakers, and headphones.

Experts believe that these standards clearly define the intelligence levels of AI terminals, laying a solid foundation for building a safe, orderly, and efficient ecosystem for AI terminals. This will also promote the coordinated development of China’s AI terminal industry, achieving scale advantages and standard leadership.

Diverse Product Forms

AI terminals are key carriers for the large-scale implementation and systematic development of AI technology. In recent years, China’s AI industry has flourished, with AI terminals continuously generating new products, business models, and experiences driven by diverse intelligent scenarios. This has effectively stimulated consumer enthusiasm and become a crucial lever for tapping into domestic demand and optimizing consumption structure.

This year, driven by the expansion of the old-for-new consumption policy and the deep integration of AI technology with consumer products, AI terminals have gained significant popularity among consumers. Data shows that in the first quarter, China’s smartphone production reached 298 million units, a year-on-year increase of 6.9%, while service robots exceeded 4.4 million units, up 2.6%.

Wei Ran, chief engineer of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, explained that AI terminals, driven by large models, represent a new generation of intelligent terminals. Compared to traditional terminals, they feature four major functional upgrades: the ability to actively perceive scenarios, accurately understand user intentions; support for multimodal interactions including text, voice, and audio-video; capability for generative applications and intelligent agent services; and autonomous learning and continuous evolution based on personal large models and knowledge bases.

“Overall, intelligent terminals have evolved from traditional passive execution tools to perceptive, understanding, service-oriented, and growth-capable intelligent assistants, redefining the human-computer interaction relationship. These functionalities are core to the highest level of intelligent terminals evaluated in the new standards,” Wei said.

Currently, AI terminals exhibit a rich variety of forms, with traditional terminals upgrading, emerging terminals expanding, and future terminal explorations progressing in parallel. Traditional terminals like AI smartphones, computers, and tablets have surpassed ten million units in shipments, becoming market leaders. Emerging categories such as intelligent vehicle terminals, smart glasses, and intelligent toys are rapidly growing, while native terminal forms represented by embodied intelligence continue to explore, further accelerating the application of AI.

Wei analyzed that the systematic integration of AI and terminal technology necessitates breakthroughs in three key areas: optimizing the end-cloud collaborative architecture, deepening the full-stack upgrade of hardware and software, and enhancing the security and privacy protection system.

Clear Evaluation System

Since 2023, leading companies in the smartphone and computer supply chains have actively launched AI terminal-related products, each with varying functional focuses. The lack of definitions and classification standards for AI terminals has made it difficult for consumers to accurately assess the intelligence levels of different products and has complicated product development and market positioning for companies. The industry lacks a unified consensus on terminal intelligence classification, leading to concept generalization and misuse, with some products falling into parameter stacking, disconnecting functionality claims from actual experiences.

The series of national standards for “Intelligent Classification of AI Terminals” adopts a “2+N” framework. The “2” refers to “Part 1: Reference Framework” and “Part 2: General Requirements,” which clarify the concept of intelligence, level classification, and testing methods, serving as the foundation for all category standards. The classification system for terminal intelligence ranges from L1 response level, L2 tool level, L3 auxiliary level, to L4 collaborative level, with increasing intelligence levels. The L4 collaborative level will be further clarified and improved in subsequent revisions according to industry development levels. The “N” represents specific standards for different products such as smartphones, computers, televisions, glasses, automotive cockpits, speakers, and headphones. The first batch includes standards for seven categories, with plans to develop standards for additional categories in the future.

Li Hongwei, chief engineer of the China Electronic Information Industry Development Research Institute, stated that the biggest highlight of this series of standards is its scene-based, quantifiable approach that balances end-user and cloud considerations, covering scenarios such as office work, learning, and design. This provides a unified “health check standard” for AI terminals, standardizing industry development and facilitating clear purchasing decisions for consumers.

The series of standards provides a scientific and unified evaluation system for the large-scale application and intelligent classification management of AI terminal products in China. This will help regulate market order and enhance user experience while accelerating the innovation and upgrade of AI terminal technology products. Additionally, the standards will strengthen China’s voice in the global standard-setting for AI terminals, reducing technical barriers for companies going abroad and enhancing international competitiveness.

“On one hand, the standards provide companies with benchmarks for improvement, helping them supply high-end products, enhance resource utilization efficiency, and promote orderly competition and healthy development. On the other hand, they offer consumers technical and evaluation bases, ensuring that demand-side has standards to rely on, enabling better choices of intelligent products and enhancing user experience and satisfaction,” said Yu Xiuming, deputy director of the China Electronic Technology Standardization Research Institute.

Accelerating Technological Inclusivity

Lenovo Group participated in the development of these standards. Currently, AI PCs account for over 30% of Lenovo’s PC shipments. Its built-in personal super-intelligent agent, Tianxi AI, is progressing towards becoming a “dedicated super assistant” for personal users. Abulikemu, vice president of Lenovo Group, stated that Lenovo will actively implement national standards, continuously innovate terminal products around Tianxi AI, refine terminal innovation application scenarios and user experiences, and drive collaborative innovation across the industry chain.

To promote the innovative development of the AI terminal industry, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will strengthen the implementation of standards, conduct standard interpretations and specialized training, establish a compliance testing platform, encourage leading companies to take the lead, and create standard application demonstration cases and benchmark products. The ministry will accelerate the iteration of the standard system, optimize and improve standard content, continuously expand the coverage of standards, and accelerate the creation of a unified standard system that includes various terminal forms. This will stimulate consumer-leading effects and ensure the effective implementation of the old-for-new policy in consumer goods this year, forming a catalog of AI terminal products to guide public consumption decisions and broaden the depth and breadth of AI applications, creating hot consumption scenarios.

Yu Xiuming explained that the standard categories will continue to be enriched, developing more standards for wearable devices, home appliances, and trendy toys, ensuring that various terminal intelligence classifications have standards to rely on. This will provide standard and technical support for the implementation of national policies and offer standard consulting and product evaluation services to society, assisting in the high-quality development of the industry.