NUPIAO Reporter |
NUPIAO Editor | NUPIAO
On July 7, the Shanghai Municipal Government Information Office held a press conference. Chen Jie, member of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal Committee and Vice Mayor, shared the latest progress on preparations for the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-Level Meeting on AI Global Governance, as well as the development of the AI industry in Shanghai.
The 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-Level Meeting on AI Global Governance is co-hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the China Association for Science and Technology, and the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government. It will take place from July 17 to 20 across four venues in three locations: the Expo, Zhangjiang, and the West Bund. Under the theme “Intelligent Partners, Co-creating the Future,” the event features six major sections: forums, exhibitions, awards and competitions, application experiences, innovation incubation, and talent recruitment.
Over the years, the World Artificial Intelligence Conference has been leading the way in AI development through technology showcases, industrial empowerment, and global governance, turning global consensus and innovation into real growth engines. In 2025, the AI industry revenue of 394 above-scale enterprises in Shanghai exceeded 637 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 39.5%, becoming a major new driver of the city’s economic growth.
At the press conference, Vice Mayor Chen Jie outlined the key features of this year’s conference.
First, a focus on global wisdom with upgraded forum architecture. The conference will feature over 140 forums, connecting 12 national ministries, 8 national-level key laboratories, and more than 10 international organizations, gathering over 1,400 Chinese and foreign guests. It will also launch the first high-level international academic conference, “WAIC Academic,” chaired by Turing Award winners and academicians from China and abroad. So far, 284 papers have been submitted from multiple countries and regions, aiming to build a top-tier academic exchange platform for AI.
Second, empowering young talent with an expanded competition matrix. Adhering to the concept of “gathering talent through competitions and promoting innovation through competitions,” the conference has upgraded its awards and competition system. Traditional flagship events like the SAIL Award, the Young Outstanding Paper Award, and the Yunfan Award continue to be optimized, while new AI competitions such as the OPC Independent Pioneer Challenge and the Young Investment Leaders List have been added, creating a multi-level competition matrix covering top achievements, young talent, and youth science education. For the first time, an exclusive OPC exhibition area has been set up, with 180 enterprises participating, using competitions to discover talent and platforms to gather young people.
Third, showcasing cutting-edge achievements with a record-breaking exhibition scale. The total exhibition area has exceeded 100,000 square meters for the first time, with over 1,100 enterprises and more than 3,000 exhibits. Over 300 products will make their global debut. The two major tracks of intelligent computing and embodied intelligence each gather over 200 enterprises, with dozens of leading chain owners, central state-owned enterprises, and top foreign companies participating with their ecosystem partners, demonstrating the latest practices of AI empowering various industries.
Fourth, deepening ecosystem services to create a full-cycle empowerment platform. The conference has launched five major ecosystem matrices: venture capital, connection, knowledge, youth innovation, and overseas expansion. It also simultaneously launched the AI-native platform “Hi WAIC,” forming a closed-loop service covering pre-conference, during-conference, and post-conference. In terms of industrial empowerment, 57 core scenarios have been implemented, with a total of 16.2 billion yuan in intended cooperation. In capital matchmaking, a dedicated capital matchmaking zone has been set up, linking over ten investment institutions and 200 professional investors. In scenario experience, under the theme “Companion Journey: My Modern Partner,” a three-level immersive experience system within the venue, on the streets, and throughout the city has been built, creating an exclusive “AI Shanghai Trip” city card.
The World Artificial Intelligence Conference has been successfully held for eight consecutive years. NUPIAO learned from the press conference that this year’s conference will have several highlights.
The first highlight is authority. The conference has initially confirmed the participation of nine Turing Award and Nobel Prize laureates. Among them, Richard Sutton, the father of reinforcement learning, will deliver a keynote speech; Yoshua Bengio, one of the “three giants of deep learning,” will introduce the United Nations’ working framework for AI governance. Gilles Brassard, the 2025 Turing Award winner, and Omar M. Yaghi, the 2025 Nobel Prize winner, will discuss the new paradigm of “AI for Science.”
The second highlight is professionalism. The conference will focus on cutting-edge model architectures, corpus data, AI infrastructure, AI for Science, embodied intelligence, and AI governance, engaging in deep exchanges on innovative theories, technical routes, practical applications, and regulatory frameworks. The conference has established “WAIC Academic” for the first time, chaired by Turing Award winner Andrew Yao, with an academic committee led by academicians from both the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. So far, 284 high-quality papers from multiple countries have been collected, and some award-winning authors will be invited to share their work.
The third is cutting-edge nature. The forums will focus on AI hot topics such as world models, open-source agents, AI coding, token economics, and OPC, delving into new industry trends. The exhibition will feature the debut of the latest AI products, including the industry’s largest super-node Huawei Atlas 950, the leading MiniMax M3 multimodal large model, the StepFun Agent operating system, a near-memory computing 3D chip, the world’s first AI agent smartphone, as well as various humanoid robots and AI dexterous hands, all to be exhibited at the conference.
The fourth highlight is experience. This year’s conference will help visitors gain in-depth understanding of the latest AI practices in manufacturing, healthcare, education, and elderly care. For example, in “AI + Manufacturing,” visitors can see how humanoid robots are put to work in factories, participating in the production of automotive batteries, motors, and electronic controls. At the same time, citizens can participate in the WAIC City Walk, visiting 24 distinctive AI scenarios across six districts of Shanghai, including the Model Speed Space, the Model Power Community, the Agent Town, ultra-high-definition audio-visual experiences, and “AI + Beauty.” During the conference, there will also be robot flash mobs, digital human interactions, and AI performances.
Currently, all preparations for the conference have entered the final sprint stage. Zhou Jin, Vice President of Donghao Lansheng Group, said that this year’s conference is not only a gathering for professionals but also an AI experience event for the public. The conference brings AI technology into exhibition halls, streets, and night venues, allowing everyone to try, see, and play firsthand. The official entry point “Hi WAIC” app is now online, integrating functions such as forum reservation, event registration, and intelligent recommendations. This year, a single exhibition ticket grants access to the three major venues in the Expo, Zhangjiang, and West Bund.
