AI Industry Enters Era of Ecological Competition: Century Huatong's Strategic Intent and Global Layout via Macau

Why Macau Has Become a Strategic Node for AI Going Global?

In July 2026, the second Digiloong Cup Global AI Innovation Summit Macau Investment Summit and AI Ecosystem Forum, co-organized by Century Huatong and the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), may seem like just another industry conference, but in reality it reveals profound changes in the globalization path of China's AI industry. Over 100 government officials, investors, and technology founders gathered in Macau. The core issue was not technological breakthroughs themselves, but how to leverage Macau's unique platform under "one country, two systems" to funnel mainland Chinese AI startups into Portuguese-speaking country markets and even the broader international stage.

This choice is not accidental. Macau is implementing a "1+4" strategy for appropriate economic diversification, with AI listed as a key emerging field. IPIM Chairman Alex Che revealed that Macau has set up a guiding fund of 20 billion patacas (approximately USD 2.5 billion) and is building technology parks and entrepreneurship ecosystems. For cultural and technology giants like Century Huatong, Macau provides a low-tax, international springboard, particularly helping to solve the common problem of repatriating overseas earnings when mainland enterprises go global.

From Efficiency Tools to Ecosystem Competition: The Moat for AI Companies Is Shifting

Century Huatong Chairman Wang Ji gave three core judgments in his speech, directly pointing out the key turning points in the current AI industry:

1. The productivity improvement from AI tools has become a consensus, but relying solely on efficiency improvements cannot build a lasting competitive advantage. 2. The reshaping of technical capabilities will be an industry watershed—AI Agents can automate about 80% of standardized work, and corporate core competitiveness will shift to creative judgment and aesthetic perception. 3. Competition has entered a stage determined by ecosystems. A company's long-term potential depends on the completeness of the industry ecosystem and the depth of accumulated real data, not the parameter scale of large models.

These three judgments outline a clear picture of the AI industry transitioning from a "technology arms race" to "ecosystem integration capability." For investors, this means that the valuation logic of chasing the large model parameter race over the past year needs to be reassessed. Lighthouse Capital Partner Ji Xing emphasized in his speech that AI is entering a 30-year industrial transformation window with enormous long-term growth potential, but short-term valuation bubbles are inevitable. The key to investment lies in the match between team and track, and between product and market.

Who Will Benefit? Who Will Face Pressure?### Beneficiaries - Macau: As a platform hub, by attracting AI enterprises to establish operations and hosting competitions, it accelerates economic diversification and enhances its technological status within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. - Century Huatong: By binding with IPIM through a strategic cooperation memorandum, it makes Macau a pillar of its global industrial strategy, connecting the value chain from Mainland China to Macau and Portuguese-speaking countries, especially benefiting the overseas expansion of its digital entertainment content. - Portuguese-speaking country markets: China's AI technology complements the demand gaps in these regions, particularly in gaming, fintech, and manufacturing automation. - AI startups with ecosystem integration capabilities: For example, Beta Infinity and xLean, which are deeply versed in embodied intelligence, or Video Rebirth, which focuses on world models, can gain scenario and data support from industrial capital like Century Huatong.

Those Under Pressure - Pure model companies lacking data accumulation and industry scenarios: Wang Ji's judgment directly negates the "parameter-only" theory, and such enterprises may be marginalized in the ecological competition. - AI tool-type companies relying on a single technology: As AI agents penetrate, standardized efficiency tools will become commoditized, squeezing profit margins. - Companies going overseas that ignore geographical diversification: If they only target the European and American markets, they may miss emerging incremental markets such as Portuguese-speaking countries, and Macau is the gateway to open this path.

What Does This Mean for the Industry Chain?

The holding of the Digiloong Cup indicates that the AI industry chain is shifting from a closed loop of "laboratory – financing – iteration" to an open integration of "scenarios – data – ecosystems". Century Huatong, as a gaming and digital entertainment company, provides natural application scenarios for AI through its core businesses (game development, intelligent design, emotional interaction). Startups selected through the competition can quickly access its industrial ecosystem. For example, the "Math Magic" mentioned in the roundtable discussion uses 3D AI to bridge design and manufacturing, "Knevo" uses AI to optimize investment decisions, and "Muyan Zhiyu" uses AI to reshape emotional interaction in games. These are not independent technology demonstrations, but synergies with Century Huatong's business lines.

At the same time, the establishment of the Macau-Hengqin Cultural and Technology Industry Association further strengthens the closed loop of "government + capital + industry + universities". Serving as a bridge, the association provides one-stop services for cross-border companies and uses the Digiloong Cup to create an industry-finance matchmaking platform. This model effectively builds a complete value chain from innovation incubation to overseas expansion, challenging the traditional Silicon Valley venture capital model and patent licensing model.

Implications for North American Enterprises: The Competitive Dimension Is Changing

• Although this forum focuses on China and Macau, North American enterprises need to pay attention to the following signals:- The globalization speed of Chinese AI companies may exceed expectations: The Macau platform bridges language and cultural gaps. The Portuguese-speaking countries (Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, etc.) have a combined market size of over 200 million people and a relatively high acceptance of Chinese technology. Through this "friend-shoring" path, Century Huatong has circumvented some geopolitical barriers.
• In the era of ecosystem competition, data barriers are harder to break through than computing power barriers: Wang Ji emphasized that "the depth of real data accumulation" is a core barrier. North American AI companies face stricter privacy regulations in data acquisition, while Chinese companies have higher data density in areas like gaming and consumer sectors. This may alter the long-term competitive landscape.
• Investment paradigms need adjustment: Although Ji Xing's proposition that "the essence of investment is the match between teams and tracks, products and markets" is classic logic, in the AI ecosystem, the role of industrial capital (such as Shengqu Capital under Century Huatong) is becoming increasingly important. North American VCs need to think about how to integrate industrial resources, otherwise they may be outmaneuvered by industrial funds that have application scenarios.

Key Observations

1. Ecosystem integration replaces parameter competition: The long-term success or failure of AI companies depends on their ability to build a complete industry ecosystem and accumulate real-scenario data, rather than model size. 2. Macau becomes a core node of the China-Portugal AI corridor: With the support of a 20 billion MOP guiding fund and the policy of "one center, one platform, one base", Macau will attract mainland AI companies and radiate business to Portuguese-speaking countries. 3. Industrial capital deeply involved in AI innovation: Through Shengqu Capital and the Digiloong Cup, Century Huatong directly screens and incubates startups, forming a dual-drive model of "investment + scenarios". 4. World models and embodied intelligence become hot tracks: The keynote speeches and panel discussions at the forum all focused on Video Rebirth's BACH model and the field of embodied intelligence, showing that Chinese teams' technological accumulation in these two directions has reached world-leading levels. 5. The problem of cross-border profit repatriation is solved: As an offshore financial center, Macau can help mainland companies solve tax and foreign exchange issues in repatriating overseas profits, an advantage that other overseas platforms do not have.

Long-term Trend Outlook: Next 3-5 Years- Macau will accelerate its transformation from a casino hub to an AI innovation center: As more events similar to the Digiloong Cup and investment summits are held, and technology companies like Henderson Group settle in, Macau is expected to form a unique "AI export services" industrial cluster within the Greater Bay Area. - Portuguese-speaking countries will become key regions for China's AI exports: Especially in fintech, gaming, manufacturing automation, and education technology, Chinese technology will penetrate on a large scale through the Macau platform. - The global AI competitive landscape will see a "three-pole" differentiation: North America (Silicon Valley) dominates basic research and frontier innovation, China (Beijing, Shenzhen, Macau) dominates application innovation and scenario integration, while Europe strengthens regulation and privacy computing. Macau may become a key springboard for China's AI to reach non-Western markets. - Ecosystem competition will give rise to new forms of industrial organization: The "enterprise + government + platform" cooperation model similar to that between Century Huatong and IPIM may be replicated, forming multiple AI ecosystem alliances centered on specific industries, rather than a unified AI platform.