The 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) officially opened in Shanghai on July 17, marking a pivotal moment for China's AI industry on the global stage. Themed 'Intelligent Partners, Co-creating the Future,' the four-day event attracted over 1,100 enterprises and covered an exhibition area exceeding 100,000 square meters.
Alibaba unveiled its Agent Native Cloud platform at the conference, signaling a shift from AI model demonstrations to practical AI agent deployment. Tencent made waves by open-sourcing three embodied intelligence foundation models, while Baidu's Dazi and StepFun's STEPX Neo were both named among the 'Treasures of the Hall' — the conference's highest honors.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech, announcing the establishment of the World AI Cooperation Organization in Shanghai. He emphasized that this represents China's concrete action in responding to the Global South's call for inclusive AI development and governance.
Huawei showcased its Atlas 950 Super Node computing infrastructure, MiniMax debuted its M3 multimodal large model, and numerous humanoid robotic hands and vehicle-mounted full-stack AI systems were demonstrated. The conference also saw the release of upgraded standards for domestic computing power interoperability.
Industry analysts noted that WAIC 2026 represented a genuine 'world moment' for Chinese AI, with the focus shifting from flashy demonstrations to tangible AI agent delivery capabilities.
