The cover illustration depicts a future scenario of intelligent hubs in the process industry, with an industrial foundation model serving as the core driver. High-speed data streams accompany material flows through virtual pipelines, interacting seamlessly with industrial equipment to realize cyber–physical intelligence powered by the model and carried out by intelligent agents. Floating displays present the system’s real-time self-monitoring, autonomous reasoning, and control actions. Through multisource data fusion and deep inference, artificial intelligence enables precise perception, proactive decision-making, and optimized control across the entire process. As a cognitive decision-making brain, the industrial foundation model not only governs the current production but also anticipates future developments, guiding the system toward self-adaptation and self-optimization. In this way, traditional factories are expected to be transformed into next-generation intelligent plants empowered by foundation models and intelligent agents, marking a new era of the smart process industry.
