Core Insights - The voice interaction capability of AI models is becoming a critical component for AI applications and hardware, with 67% of enterprises planning to place conversational AI at the strategic core by 2025, and 84% intending to increase investments in the next year [1] - The AI voice sector is experiencing significant financing activity, with major tech companies like OpenAI and Google releasing their own voice models and products [1] Industry Trends - Conversational AI is rapidly being integrated across various industries, utilizing technologies such as large language models (LLM), automatic speech recognition (ASR), text-to-speech (TTS), and real-time interaction (RTE) [2] - Despite the growing popularity of AI products, high return rates are a concern, with reports indicating return rates for AI plush toys reaching 30%-40% and some AI glasses as high as 40%-50% [2] - User satisfaction with current AI conversational experiences is low, with only 21% of users expressing satisfaction, leading to high user attrition rates [4] Technical Challenges - Effective voice interaction requires AI to analyze various non-verbal cues, such as tone, pitch, and background noise, to understand user intent [5] - Key technical challenges for conversational AI include low latency response, natural interruption handling, context management, and emotional understanding [5][6] - Traditional voice synthesis processes can result in delays of 2-3 seconds, significantly impacting user experience when the ideal response time is around 400 milliseconds [5] Market Dynamics - The demand for conversational AI is driving growth for platform-based voice technology companies, with AI voice assistants and emotional companionship applications leading the market [7] - VoiceAgent is a prominent product form in the market, with two main architectures: traditional cascading models and end-to-end models, both requiring stable low-latency real-time transmission technology [7] - Companies like Agora, Inc. are focusing on providing stable transmission networks, which are crucial for the performance of conversational AI applications [9] Company Performance - Agora, Inc. reported a revenue of $33.27 million and $34.25 million in Q1 and Q2 of this year, respectively, showing minimal growth [12] - The revenue from Agora's international operations is growing, while the revenue from its Chinese operations has declined for two consecutive quarters [12] - R&D expenses for Agora, Inc. were $14 million in Q2, accounting for 40.9% of total revenue, indicating a significant investment in maintaining competitive advantage [13] Leadership Changes - Recent leadership changes at Agora include the departure of key executives, with operational responsibilities being reassigned to the founder and CEO [17] - Continuous R&D investment is essential for companies like Agora to provide differentiated voice technology services and maintain a competitive edge in the evolving AI landscape [17]

Core Insights - Agora, Inc. (声网) has achieved significant milestones, including surpassing 1 trillion service minutes annually and launching multiple new products, indicating a positive trajectory for the company [1] - The rise of multimodal AI models has led to increased enterprise investment in voice AI, with 67% of companies placing voice AI at the strategic core and 84% planning to increase investments in the coming year [1] - Agora has recently partnered with OpenAI to launch the first Realtime API for low-latency voice interaction, marking a strategic shift towards conversational AI [3] Company Developments - Agora's CEO Zhao Bin announced the company's annual service minutes exceeded 1 trillion, highlighting growth and product innovation [1] - The company has introduced several products focused on conversational AI, including a new AI engine that enhances dialogue capabilities and supports various ASR and TTS providers [4] - Agora's revenue for Q2 2025 was reported at $34.3 million, a slight increase of 0.5% year-over-year, with a net profit of $1.5 million, indicating a return to profitability [5] Industry Trends - The conversational AI market is projected to grow significantly, with ARK Invest estimating potential growth from $30 million to between $70 billion and $150 billion in the AI companionship sector [5] - Despite advancements, only 21% of users are satisfied with current AI dialogue experiences, indicating room for improvement in areas such as low-latency response and emotional understanding [5] - The integration of conversational AI into business strategies is becoming increasingly important, with companies recognizing its potential as a key component of next-generation AI infrastructure [5]

Group 1 - The annual service minutes of Agora have surpassed 1 trillion for the first time, indicating that Real-Time Engagement (RTE) technology has become a critical infrastructure [1] - The proportion of high-definition video has increased over tenfold in the past two years, with over 80% of overseas market traffic being above 720p resolution, signaling a new wave of innovation in the real-time interaction industry [1] - Only 21% of users are satisfied with the current AI conversation experience, highlighting significant challenges in achieving human-like dialogue, including low latency response and emotional understanding [1] Group 2 - A survey by Deepgram and Opus Research shows that 67% of enterprises have positioned voice AI agents at the strategic core, with 84% planning to increase investments in the next year [2] - Agora's usage of conversational AI saw a 151% quarter-over-quarter growth by Q3 2025, reflecting strong market demand [2] - Agora has released the "2025 Conversational AI Development White Paper" and "Conversational AI Curiosity Handbook" to provide a systematic guide for the industry [2]

Core Insights - The 11th Real-time Internet Conference, themed "AI Voice," was held in Beijing, focusing on the integration of Real-time Interactive (RTE) technology and Conversational AI [1] - Agora's CEO announced that the company's annual service minutes have surpassed 1 trillion for the first time, indicating the critical infrastructure role of RTE technology [1] - The conference highlighted the rapid growth of video quality, with over 80% of overseas market traffic exceeding 720p resolution, and a significant increase in WebRTC global search interest [1] Industry Trends - The industry is experiencing a new wave of innovation, but challenges remain in transitioning from "connectivity" to "dialogue," particularly in human-AI interactions [1][3] - Only 21% of users are satisfied with current AI conversational experiences, with high user attrition rates due to the lack of non-verbal communication elements in AI interactions [3] - The emergence of multi-modal large language models (LLMs) is seen as a potential solution to enhance real-time voice dialogue capabilities [3] Market Opportunities - 67% of enterprises have positioned voice AI agents at the strategic core, with 84% planning to increase investments in the next year [4] - The conversational AI market is projected to grow significantly, with ARK Invest estimating the AI companionship sector could rise from $30 million to between $70 billion and $150 billion [4] - Key application areas for conversational AI include emotional companionship, smart hardware, and online education, with significant advancements demonstrated in AI customer service capabilities [4] Strategic Developments - Agora released the "2025 Conversational AI Development White Paper" and various tools to accelerate innovation in the RTE and AI sectors [5] - Microsoft’s CTO emphasized the importance of understanding technology's essence and aligning it with user needs for successful implementation [5] - The need for organizations to foster collaboration between humans and AI agents was highlighted, along with the importance of continuous learning and addressing data security and organizational culture [6][7] Globalization and Market Entry - The necessity for Chinese AI companies to undergo a "mental leap" for successful global expansion was discussed, emphasizing trust as a new competitive barrier [8] - Key opportunities in the AI market include agents, AI hardware, and foundational infrastructure, with a focus on niche markets for startups [8][9] - Strategies for entering global markets include localizing products and building trust with local partners, as well as understanding cultural nuances [9][10] Talent and Execution - Consensus among industry leaders indicates that talent for global expansion should possess entrepreneurial experience and cross-cultural adaptability [10] - Successful product globalization requires a combination of global technical value narratives and localized emotional expressions [10]

Investment Rating - The report indicates a cautious outlook for the global internet communication cloud market, with a projected market size of approximately $6.8 billion in 2024, anticipating a new growth phase in the next 2-3 years [3][15]. Core Insights - The development of AI is transforming the communication cloud industry into a key infrastructure for human and machine interactions, driven by the need for reliability, real-time communication, and multi-modal capabilities [10][11]. - The demand from developers is increasingly focused on security, intelligence, and openness, with a shift from basic communication services to AI-enabled solutions [6][25]. - The report highlights the dual empowerment of AI and communication, suggesting that both will evolve together to enhance interaction methods and application scenarios [10][11]. Summary by Sections 01 AI时代的新基础设施 - The report emphasizes the significance of internet communication cloud as a foundational infrastructure in the AI era, facilitating immersive AI interactions and meeting the demands for reliable and real-time communication [10][11]. 02 互联网通信云技术演进 - The evolution of technology in the communication cloud sector is marked by a focus on security upgrades and compliance with data privacy regulations, which are becoming essential for global market entry [30][31]. 03 竞争格局与典型企业 - The competitive landscape is characterized by a shift towards providing comprehensive AI capabilities, with top players focusing on integrating AI with communication services to enhance user experience and meet compliance requirements [59][64]. 04 发展趋势及展望 - Future trends indicate that the integration of GenAI will drive the development of multi-modal interactions, with communication cloud vendors optimizing transmission effects to cater to new application scenarios [5][51].

Core Viewpoint - Agora, Inc. is actively expanding into high-potential areas such as conversational AI, demonstrating significant revenue growth and profitability in its recent financial results [2][3]. Financial Performance - In Q1 2025, Agora, Inc. reported total revenue of $33.27 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 12.1%, with a notable acceleration from the previous quarter's growth of 3.6% [2]. - The company achieved a net profit of $410,000 under GAAP, marking its second consecutive quarter of profitability after returning to profit in Q4 2024 [2]. Cash Reserves - As of March 31, 2025, Agora, Inc. had cash and cash equivalents totaling $388 million, which supports its strategic investments in high-potential fields, particularly conversational AI [2]. Customer Base - As of March 31, 2025, Agora had 1,994 active customers, reflecting a year-over-year growth of 5.2% [4]. Product Innovation - Agora launched its conversational AI engine and development kit, enabling developers to create real-time voice interaction experiences with minimal coding requirements [6]. - The conversational AI engine can upgrade any text-based large model into a conversational multimodal model with just two lines of code and within 15 minutes, significantly lowering the development barrier [6]. User Experience - The conversational AI engine boasts a median voice interaction latency of just 650 ms, with an intelligent interruption feature that allows for natural conversation flow [8]. - It includes a "selective attention lock" feature that can filter out 95% of background noise, ensuring clear voice recognition [9]. Application Scenarios - The conversational AI capabilities are being applied across various sectors, including smart assistants, virtual companionship, language practice, and customer service [13]. - Specific use cases include educational tools that enhance real-time interaction for students and AI companions that provide emotional support [15][17]. Development Support - Agora has made its conversational AI development kit fully open-source, providing developers with comprehensive resources to integrate AI capabilities into their hardware [11]. - The development process is streamlined, allowing developers to create prototypes quickly and efficiently [11].