30-Day Countdown! The 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference will be held in Shanghai from July 17 to 20.
On the afternoon of June 17th, the press conference for the 30-day countdown to the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and the High-Level Conference on Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence was held in the Four Seasons Hall of the Expo Riverside Hotel. At the conference, the theme of the conference, the new five major ecological matrices of the conference, and the first AI ecological open platform of the conference, the "Hi WAIC" APP, were officially announced. This global event has now entered the final sprint towards its opening.
It is reported that this year's conference will be held in Shanghai from July 17th to 20th. It will be divided into three major areas: the Expo area, Zhangjiang area, and Xijiao area. With the theme of "Intelligent Partners, Co-create the Future", it will feature six major sections: forum meetings, exhibitions, award competitions, application experiences, innovation incubation, and talent recruitment: It is planned to hold over 140 theme forums, gather more than 1400 international guests, with a total exhibition area of over 100,000 square meters. More than 1100 global enterprises will participate in the exhibition, and over 3000 exhibits will be presented. An OPC exclusive exhibition area will be set up for the first time, and 180 enterprises will showcase their achievements there.
The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization introduced the overall situation of the conference. This year's conference responds to the era's change where artificial intelligence is evolving from a technological tool to a collaborative partner, aiming at the common vision of global co-governance, industrial progress, and urban sharing.
The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization released the TOP 30 list of the SAIL Award. As the highest award of the conference, the SAIL Award is based on the core values of transcendence, empowerment, innovation, and leadership. It aims to discover projects in the field of artificial intelligence that are widely recognized globally and are of great significance for improving human well - being. It serves as a vane for observing technological breakthroughs and industrial implementation directions.
The China Computer Federation introduced the latest progress of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference - Academic (WAIC - Academic). This is a world - class artificial intelligence academic platform independently developed in China. Mr. Yao Qizhi, a Turing Award winner, serves as the conference chairman, Professor Richard Sutton, known as the "father of reinforcement learning", serves as the international co - chairman, and Mr. Zheng Qinghua, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and Mr. E Weinan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, jointly serve as the chairmen of the program committee. WAICA adopts a collaborative review mechanism of "artificial intelligence + the public + experts" to gather global wisdom, allowing innovation to be free from format constraints. Currently, 284 valid submissions have been received from more than 10 countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, France, and Spain, as well as from Hong Kong and Macao of China, with an acceptance rate strictly controlled at around 20%.
Donghao Lansheng announced the official launch of WAIC City Walk "Accompanied Travel Notes" and jointly lit up the first batch of city routes with the Foreign Affairs Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, the Science and Economy Commission of Pudong New Area, and the New - type Industrialization Promotion Office of Xuhui District. WAIC City Walk is oriented towards the public experience, linking up the 16 districts of the city. It connects the artificial intelligence experience points scattered in shopping malls, industrial parks, and blocks, turning the whole city into an open - air exhibition hall, allowing artificial intelligence to step out of the exhibition stands, enter daily life, and reach the general public.
Donghao Lansheng announced the latest list of cooperation institutions, partners, and cooperation media of the conference. The addition of new partners has continuously expanded WAIC's international "circle of friends". Lightelligence spoke as a representative of the industry.
At the conference, Donghao Lansheng officially launched the "Hi WAIC" APP and simultaneously opened the registration and ticket - purchasing channels. "Hi WAIC" is the first AI - native platform of the conference, equipped with a self - developed ecological engine and built on a multi - agent architecture. It integrates intelligent events, supply - demand matching, vertical content, circle - based social networking, think - tank data, and tiered membership. It upgrades WAIC from an annual top - level industry event to an all - weather online - offline AI super - ecological network.
Subsequently, Donghao Lansheng introduced the new ecological matrix of WAIC 2026: the venture capital ecosystem WAIC Future Tech, the connection ecosystem WAIC CONNECT, the knowledge ecosystem WAIC UP!, the youth innovation ecosystem WAIC YOUNG, and the overseas expansion ecosystem AI GRAVITY were unveiled. They are respectively targeted at start - up incubation, industrial docking, public knowledge, youth innovation, and international cooperation. The five ecosystems have their own functions and are closely linked, covering the entire life cycle from talent cultivation to industrial implementation.
After the press conference, the offline finals of the OPC Independent Pioneer Challenge were held. This is a key special event of the conference for "one - person companies" and super - individuals in the AI era. The winning projects selected from the eight regional competitions across the country gathered on the finals stage for roadshows and competitions. The event focuses on the empowerment of personal creation by intelligent tools, lightweight organizations, and new forms of entrepreneurship, recording the new changes of innovation entities in the AI era.
With the theme, platform, event, and ecosystem being successively announced, the curtain of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference is about to open. July belongs to Shanghai. In 30 days, global wisdom, industries, and dreams will once again converge on the banks of the Huangpu River. The world and the future will enter "Shanghai Time".
Currently, the registration channel for conference attendees has been opened on the official conference APP "Hi WAIC". You can scan the QR code below or search for "Hi WAIC" in the mobile app store/APP Store to download it. Meanwhile, the group and journalist registration channels have been opened on the official conference website. Please note that ticket - holders can access the venues in the three major areas of the conference: the Expo area, Zhangjiang area, and Xijiao area. All three areas are equipped with rich conferences, exhibitions, various activities, and experiences.
