Leike Technology AI Hardware Group | Editor: Tianxing | Supervisor: Luo Chao
On October 22, 2026, the International NearLink Alliance Industry Summit themed "NearLink AI · Smart Integration of All Things" was held in Shenzhen. During the summit, the NearLink 3.0 technical standard and several related industry standards were released together, marking that NearLink technology has officially entered a new era. On October 23, Leike Technology was invited to have a discussion with Zeng Guosong, Secretary-General of the International NearLink Alliance, to discuss the future of NearLink technology from the perspective of an industry promoter rather than brand users.
Some may not be clear about what kind of organization the International NearLink Alliance is. Simply put, it was initiated in 2020 and registered with the Ministry of Civil Affairs in 2023, now having over 1,260 member units. Similar to the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the International NearLink Alliance is responsible for formulating the technical specifications and standards for NearLink technology, while also promoting its application in more fields.
Over the past six years, the International NearLink Alliance has brought NearLink technology to markets across Asia and Europe, enabling this young wireless standard to compete as an international standard against traditional wireless technologies such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and UWB.
However, from Leike Technology's perspective, as a "latecomer," NearLink faces significant challenges in trying to "capture market share" from established technologies like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in the realm of wireless standards. Taking the most common issues encountered by Leike Technology as an example:
"Bluetooth technology is already very mature, why do we still need NearLink?"
We Have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, Why Do We Still Need NearLink?
To answer this question, we must first look at the application scenarios of Bluetooth.
In most cases, the user experience with Bluetooth technology is decent: applications such as Bluetooth earphones, Bluetooth mice, and smartphone Bluetooth keys are already highly mature. But have you noticed that these Bluetooth application scenarios actually have relatively low requirements for "reliability"?
In places with complex wireless signals such as airports and intersections, stuttering in Bluetooth earphones is not uncommon; next to a wireless router, Bluetooth mouse signals are easily interfered with; in parking lots, situations where users are left waiting due to disconnections of smartphone Bluetooth keys are becoming increasingly frequent.
In fact, it is precisely the "unreliability" of Bluetooth connections that prevents this excellent wireless technology from being widely applied in more "serious" commercial and industrial scenarios.
Reliability is a shortcoming of Bluetooth technology, but it is a strength of NearLink technology.
Unlike Bluetooth, NearLink technology incorporated 99.999% reliability directly into its standards during formulation. Zeng Guosong, Secretary-General of the International NearLink Alliance, refers to this as the "Five Nines" signal guarantee: As long as a signal is sent, the recipient is guaranteed to receive it. It is this level of reliability that enables NearLink to enter industrial scenarios that traditional wireless technologies cannot cover.
Fairly speaking, the reason Bluetooth and Wi-Fi cannot achieve "99.999%" reliability is not due to technical inferiority. As relatively "ancient" technologies, Bluetooth and other wireless protocols carry decades of compatibility baggage. Concerns about backward compatibility force these technologies to merely "patch" old foundations, preventing the introduction of truly revolutionary innovations.
But NearLink does not have such baggage and can truly travel light. Regarding concerns about applicability, although consumers only see the single brand "NearLink," internally it is divided into four different communication modes: SLE (Low Energy), SLB (High Bandwidth), SLP (Precise Positioning), and SLZ (Passive Zero Power).
With the support of leading chip suppliers within the International NearLink Alliance, hardware brands can fully choose one or multiple combinations based on their product needs to build wireless communication solutions better suited to their products.
NearLink's Ultimate Goal Is to Replace Wired Connections with Wireless
We often say "quantitative change leads to qualitative change." So, given absolute reliability and unexpectedly high shipment volumes, what changes has the newly released NearLink3.0 technology undergone?
During the exchange, Zeng Guosong mentioned that "NearLink 3.0 will revolve around the development of AI."
We know that whether it is wearable smart hardware or embodied robots, 2026 has become a "bumper year" for these AI hardware devices, and increasingly rich AI technologies are placing higher demands on wireless communication standards.
Taking embodied intelligent robots as an example, unlike "daily" application scenarios like Bluetooth earphones and mice, intelligent robots have extremely strict requirements for wireless communication technology regarding reliability, low latency, high bandwidth, and anti-interference capabilities. The goal of NearLink 3.0 is to become the technical "infrastructure" of the AI intelligence era.
Why can a "wireless transmission technology" become infrastructure for the AI intelligence era? Zeng Guosong gave a very intuitive example during the exchange:
To ensure high-speed, reliable signal transmission similar to human nerves, most current intelligent robots still use wired signal transmission internally. Although wired signals are stable, in complex robots, these cables are not just dead weight but may also limit the range of motion of robot joints, and they may loosen under high-speed movement or impact.
However, under the NearLink technology system, these cables can be completely replaced by NearLink's wireless transmission. Zeng Guosong specifically mentioned during the exchange, "We (the International NearLink Alliance) have established an Embodied Intelligence Working Group. In the future, the wires in these joints will be significantly reduced. Once our chips are available, these joints will use NearLink modules."
From Leike Technology's perspective, considering the complexity of robot products, completely replacing wired technology with wireless technology is unrealistic. However, bringing NearLink technology to the robotics field as a representative of wireless communication not only provides the industry with a new option but also allows robot companies to offer differentiated products to the market. For instance, at the International NearLink Alliance booth, we saw many intelligent robots and smart hardware products currently using NearLink technology.
Of course, this technical approach of "replacing wired with wireless based on reliability" has rich application scenarios beyond robotics—such as electronic paper displays based on NearLink, which can be used not only as electronic price tags in stores but also in scenarios with extremely low tolerance for error, such as hospital electronic medical record cards.
Zeng Guosong also mentioned that in April next year, the International NearLink Alliance will add an industry promotion group targeting the smart energy sector, dedicated to researching the technical application and promotion of NearLink technology in scenarios such as power line inspections.
A New Short-Range Standard Initiated by China, Co-built by the World
Returning to the topic, as a relatively young wireless standard, simply "doing well itself" is obviously not enough for NearLink. To expand its influence, NearLink relies on the help of industry partners.
Some may misunderstand NearLink, thinking it is a wireless technology "exclusive to China," but this is not the case: While it is true that NearLink is a technology born in China, today's NearLink is already a standard "co-built" by countries around the world.
According to Zeng Guosong, the International NearLink Alliance currently has nearly 1,260 member units, of which more than 100 are international members. Additionally, the International NearLink Alliance has authorized industry organizations in other countries to use the NearLink trademark and promote the standard, pooling efforts from all parties to jointly build the NearLink "Grand Alliance."
Regarding chip supply, Zeng Guosong admitted that "the number of NearLink chip enterprises is still limited at this stage," but he also mentioned that multiple members within the International NearLink Alliance are developing and supplying digital car key chips, IoT chips, and audio chips based on NearLink technology.
With the technology ready and chips available, how does one persuade brands to proactively choose NearLink technology when selecting wireless solutions? Zeng Guosong stated that the International NearLink Alliance hopes to persuade manufacturers with the "results" of NearLink technology. In his words, "Huawei's earphones sold 4 million units in less than 10 months, making them a global leader in audio. With such demand and achievements, these manufacturers will start moving."
AI is NearLink 3.0's Opportunity to Leapfrog
Regarding the future of NearLink technology, Zeng Guosong provided a very optimistic figure at the summit: By 2030, the total volume of short-range wireless connections in China will exceed 8 billion. New scenarios such as AI glasses, smart cars, smart healthcare, and smart grids will open incremental space for NearLink.
Although NearLink technology is just one option among short-range wireless technologies, Zeng Guosong mentioned during the exchange that "NearLink is not intended to replace short-range wireless technologies such as Bluetooth and Wi-Fi." However, from Leike Technology's perspective, NearLink's real opportunity lies not in "replacing someone," but in bringing wireless connection technology to tasks that previously could only be completed via wired connections.
Of course, the current stage of NearLink technology has far from reached the coverage level of wireless communication technologies like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Taking mobile phone brands as an example, as the "hub" of personal smart hardware, the support for NearLink technology by mainstream mobile phone manufacturers remains quite limited.
Although Zeng Guosong mentioned during the exchange that some prominent domestic mobile phone brands are actively promoting the adaptation of NearLink technology, and even a certain internationally renowned automotive brand will use NearLink technology next year, compared to the Bluetooth Alliance, whose ecosystem is already mature, NearLink's user perception and brand influence are still somewhat inferior.
However, looking at the positive side, NearLink 3.0 targets the AI hardware market, and the ecosystem for AI hardware has not yet fully settled. This new market of smart hardware presents both challenges and opportunities for NearLink.
What is certain is that in the AI era, the more stable and superior NearLink 3.0 technology will undoubtedly lead NearLink to more application scenarios and eventually become a new technical standard "on par" with technologies like Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. And for users like you and me, having richer and more personalized choices in the wireless domain is undoubtedly a good thing.