The '2026 China AI Gala,' a major prime-time event produced by China Central Television (CCTV) in collaboration with the Cyberspace Administration of China and the Shanghai Municipal Government, aired on August 9 at 20:00 on CCTV-1 and the Yangshipin digital platform.
The gala, held in connection with the 2026 World AI Conference, celebrated China's AI achievements with a blend of technology showcase and cultural performance. The centerpiece was the announcement of the '2026 AI Persons of the Year' — 10 individuals recognized for their contributions to AI advancement. The honorees include Wang Xingxing, Wang He, Zhu Qiuguo, Yan Junjie, Li Hongwei, Wang Yu, Shen Yichen, Zhang Linfeng, Zeng Guoyang, and Wei Shaojun. Notably, four of the ten are born in the 1990s, with the youngest, Zeng Guoyang, just 28 years old.
A special 'AI Contribution Person of the Year' award was given to Cai Lei, an ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) patient who has spent six years fighting the disease while using AI as a weapon in his battle. Using an eye-tracking device as his command center, Cai Lei has been working on ALS treatment research. During the broadcast, a 29-year-old ALS patient named Xiao Liu — a participant in the clinical trial of the AI-assisted drug RAG-17 developed by Cai Lei's team — stood up from her wheelchair, drawing thunderous applause from the audience.
The gala featured extraordinary AI-human collaborative performances. Ballerina Tan Yuanyuan and dancer Wu Yufei performed with a Unitree robot in a piece called 'AI Dance Love.' Singer Zhou Bichang and pianist Zhang Chenghao collaborated with the Hexuan robot. A 'Music Turing Test' challenged 700 audience members to distinguish between AI and human singers.
The event also featured a cross-cultural dialogue between Wang Jian, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and founder of Alibaba Cloud, and Bilel Jamoussi of the International Telecommunication Union, discussing how to bridge the digital divide affecting 2.2 billion people still without internet access — with satellite technology proposed as a potential solution.
