Motor is the core equipment of electric energy conversion. It is used to drive various production equipment. The safe and continuous operation of motor directly affects the national economy and social development. Among different kinds of motors, asynchronous motors have wide applications and are operated under different conditions, so the fault diagnosis of asynchronous motors have attracted much attention. The importance and main problems of fault diagnosis of asynchronous motors are summarized, and the artificial intelligence technology of fault detection in this field in recent years is discussed detailedly. The key directions and work in the near future are also put forward.