At today's 2026 Baidu AI Developer Conference, Baidu founder Li Yanhong delivered a highly anticipated speech. He proposed that, in the context of deep development of artificial intelligence, the indicators for measuring industry prosperity should shift from "Token consumption" to "Daily Active Agents" (DAA).

Li Yanhong believes that Tokens only represent computing power investment and cost, and do not directly reflect output value. He emphasized that only by focusing on how many agents are delivering real results for humans can we touch the essence of AI industry development.

Defining the Value of Agents

Agents are viewed by Li Yanhong as the most promising direction for AI applications. They mark a transition from simple conversational interactions to task automation. Compared to Daily Active Users (DAU) during the mobile internet era, Daily Active Agents (DAA) more accurately capture the extent of productivity released.

When a large number of agents start to be active across industries and solve practical problems, the value of the platform and ecosystem truly emerges. This indicator aims to guide developers and entrepreneurs to shift their focus from underlying consumption to final application outcomes.

The Three-in-One Creator

Li Yanhong also pointed out that, driven by the wave of agents, the role of human individuals is undergoing a profound evolution. He believes that future developers will no longer be limited to writing code, but will become multi-faceted talents who are builders, entrepreneurs, and creators all at once.

This "three-in-one" identity transformation means that every individual with creativity can quickly realize a business cycle using agent tools. This not only lowers the technical barriers to entrepreneurship but also signals the arrival of a new intelligent era of mass creation and value delivery.