Driven by the tide of digitalization, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is reshaping the future of network architecture, leading a wave of transformation centered on intelligence. The rapid development of AI technology has driven a swift expansion in the density of terminal connections and the scale of networks. Traditional network architectures are unable to keep pace with this development and urgently need to leverage AI technology to achieve large-scale network automation management. Therefore, network architectures are undergoing transformation with automation, intelligence, and efficiency as core objectives. This transformation not only supports existing network services but also adapts to the needs of future emerging technologies. This paper systematically reviews the evolution of network architecture, summarizes the key characteristics of service-oriented networks, deterministic networks, intelligent computing networks, and self-intelligent networks, and analyzes the design of network architecture and key technologies. It examines the future direction of network development—service-generating networks, from the perspectives of national policy and development needs, introduces their architectural design and application use cases, and further assesses the development trends and challenges. The research indicates that service-generating networks are the cornerstone of future network development and will be combined with other emerging technologies such as 6G, the Internet of Things, and edge computing to jointly build an intelligent digital society and a smart interconnected world.