The World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) makes its first move south: Shanghai and Hong Kong join hands at the "WAIC UP! Global Year-End Gala" in 2026 to unveil a new chapter in AI dialogue.

Hong Kong, January 16, 2026 – As the annual highlight and closing event of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), the "WAIC UP! Global Year - End Gala" was held today at the Hong Kong Science Park. Thousands of audiences throughout the day gathered with AI experts, scholars, entrepreneurs, investors from around the world, the Chinese mainland, and Hong Kong, as well as Hong Kong Legislative Council members.

This gala is of great significance. Its core theme "WAKE UP MORE!" symbolizes a comprehensive awakening from cognition to action, and from individuals to the ecosystem. This is not only the first time that the WAIC has held its annual flagship event in Hong Kong, but also marks a historic strategic handshake between the cutting - edge AI industry practices in the Chinese mainland, represented by Shanghai, and Hong Kong's international hub function, jointly inspiring broader technological prospects, deeper industrial integration, and a more globally influential innovation ecosystem.

Top - notch political, business, and academic lineup builds an international intellectual high - ground

The conference has received high attention and support from all sectors in Hong Kong. The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Mr. Li Jiachao, specially delivered an opening speech via video. He said that this year's gala is held in Hong Kong for the first time, with the theme of "WAKE UP MORE!", which demonstrates the infinite possibilities of artificial intelligence. We should leverage AI to drive innovation and use it to build an inclusive economic system, more resilient communities, and create a future for all in a more sustainable way. He also clarified Hong Kong's strategic position in the global AI landscape and sent a policy signal of full support for the development of the innovation and technology industry. Professor Sun Dong, the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, JP, Mr. Huang Bingxiu, the Chief Executive Officer of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, and Mr. Qiu Dagen, a member of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Legislative Council and the President of the Hong Kong Information Technology Federation attended the event in person to deliver speeches. Notably, Mr. Xian Handi, a representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to the 14th National People's Congress, JP, MH, also attended the conference and delivered a speech. He and Ms. Qiu Haoming, the Vice - President of Donghao Lansheng Exhibition Group Co., Ltd., the event organizer, jointly launched this annual intellectual gala in the international AI community.

This lineup, together with more than 40 global top AI technology and industry giants at the conference, forms a golden triangle of "government strategy + academic frontier + industrial practice", marking that an innovation closed - loop connecting the Yangtze River Delta and the Greater Bay Area, and integrating top - notch technologies with the global market is accelerating its formation on the WAIC platform.

Three - act progressive forum precisely matches intellectual value

The agenda design breaks through the traditional model. For the first time, the five major ecological brands under WAIC are presented in parallel in Hong Kong, with the main line of "Intellectual Awakening - Dimensional Upgrade - Inspiration Burst" to create a differentiated experience.

Morning Session [WAKE Intellectual Awakening]

Focus on new - wave ideas and anchor the future coordinates

In the morning, based on the global frontier, WAIC UP! New - wave Ideas broadens our horizons and allows us to see the real outline of the future.

Piero Scaruffi, the founder and dean of the Silicon Valley Artificial Intelligence Research Institute delivered the opening keynote speech. With the framework of "70·40·10 - The Past, Present, and Future of Artificial Intelligence and Silicon Valley", he comprehensively sorted out the 70 - year technological evolution of AI, the 40 - year innovation ecosystem in Silicon Valley, and the unknowns and hopes in the next decade.

Professor Guo Yike, a foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the Chief Vice - Chancellor of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology concretized the grand concept of AI sovereignty into a series of in - depth localized applications such as "HKChat", demonstrating how AI technology can take root in the fabric of Hong Kong society and the strategic value of Hong Kong as an AI hub between the East and the West.

Ma Weiying, the Chief AI Director of the City University of Hong Kong and the Dean of the Hong Kong Artificial Intelligence and Science Research Institute elaborated on the vision of an "AI scientist" and proposed the FLEX (Forward Learning From Experiences) framework combined with a hierarchical memory system to achieve a closed - loop co - evolution of intelligence and experience, outlining the future scenario of AI reshaping the paradigm of scientific discovery and the university research and education system.

Afternoon Session [UP Dimensional Upgrade]

Parallel presentation of the WAIC matrix, targeting practical applications and the ecosystem

In the afternoon, it enters a high - density, segmented practical docking session.

n WAIC CONNECT Practical Cases

Mr. Steve Hoffman, the Chairman and CEO of Founders Space started his speech with "AI is Eating Everything". Using the vivid metaphor of "eating" and intuitive illustrations, he macroscopically outlined the global picture of the technological explosion and the competition situation between China and the United States, ultimately triggering an urgent and profound reflection on "whether AI will replace human jobs".

The perspectives of four parties from scientific research, computing power, capital, and the market converge into the "Business and Industry Round - Table", comprehensively discussing the closed - loop from technology R & D to commercial implementation. Special attention is paid to how to transform laboratory results into stable products, how to break through the bottleneck of large - scale revenue, and how to build an open and collaborative AI ecosystem, providing a clear and practical development path for the industrialization of AI.

n WAIC YOUNG Educational and Scientific Trends

The vice - chancellor - level scientific leaders from the University of Hong Kong, the City University of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University gathered at the "Presidents' Round - Table". They not only analyzed the bottlenecks such as the education evaluation system and the disconnection between industry, academia, and research, but also proposed specific paths for deepening the integration of the Guangdong - Hong Kong - Macao Greater Bay Area and building a parallel "research - industry" cooperation network, providing systematic thinking and action directions for strengthening the scientific and technological foundation in the AI era.

In the cross - border dialogue of the "Youth Observers" focusing on the next generation, cosmologists, artists, educators, and ecosystem builders carried out in - depth discussions from multiple dimensions such as the interstellar scale, the essence of art, early childhood education, and the value of civilization, exploring the fundamental collisions between AI as a "new form of life" and humans in terms of the rhythm of evolution, the subject of creation, and the definition of value.

n WAIC FUTURE TECH Track Opportunities

Professor Lu Cewu, the co - founder of Qiongche Intelligence, the co - founder of Feixi Robotics, the deputy dean of the School of Artificial Intelligence at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and the deputy dean of the Shanghai Chuangzhi Institute focused on embodied intelligence and proposed the "real - world foundation - imagination expansion - subconscious learning" approach. He pioneered the crowd - sourcing (RoboPocket) paradigm, built a "digital gene" world model, and emphasized the full information fusion of force and position to break through the Scaling Law dilemma.

The "Quantum Round - Table" invited several representatives of different technology routes and industry observers, including Zhu Xiaobo, the chief engineer of the "Zuchongzhi" quantum computer, to have a face - to - face exchange. The topics covered the integration of quantum computing and AI, the competition and prospects of different technology routes, and the leap of quantum computing from "superiority" to "practicality", presenting a cutting - edge scientific and technological dialogue that is both forward - looking, critical, and constructive.

n AI GRAVITY Connecting the World

Mr. Fu Sheng, the Chairman and CEO of Cheetah Mobile and the Chairman of Orion Star used his company's "AI - enabled" transformation as an example and proposed a three - step enterprise transformation plan of "leadership demonstration, full - staff revolution, and tool implementation". He showed with vivid cases how an established company can embrace AI with an all - in attitude.

The "Going - Global Strategy Round - Table" brought together practitioners in the fields of basic models, automotive finance, industrial Internet, and intelligent logistics who are going global. Together with representatives of the Greater Bay Area resources, namely the Hong Kong Investment Promotion Agency and the Hong Kong Productivity Council, they actively explored the upgrade path from single - point going - global to systematic "fleet - style" development through technology empowerment, ecological cooperation, and platform collaboration.

Evening Session [Inspiration Burst]

Break through circles and stimulate "Inspiration Burst"

When the lights of Victoria Harbour are lit up, this all - day intellectual feast reaches another climax in the evening session.

The Free Talk Zone led by the five major ecological brands of WAIC provides a seamless communication platform, allowing the most valuable resources, opportunities, and inspirations to flow naturally in informal conversations. ZhiHu content creators, geeks from the WAYtoAGI and RTE developer communities, young BIM scientists, and top AI technology bloggers have equal - footing conversations with the big names who took the stage during the day. Steve Hoffman delivered a special interactive speech on "SimCity: The Future Created by AI". Dr. Allen Yang, the founding executive director of the VIVE Augmented Reality Center at the University of California, Berkeley revealed the real ambition of Physical AI for the first time on - site. A member of the Hong Kong Legislative Council, a