More than 800 companies will gather in Shanghai this weekend to take part in the World AI Conference, where over 3,000 products, 40 large language models, 50 AI-powered devices, and 60 intelligent robots will be on display.
The two-day event will feature Chinese firms such as Huawei and Alibaba, alongside international names including Tesla, Alphabet, and Amazon.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang is scheduled to speak at the opening, reflecting the government’s focus on artificial intelligence as part of its national development strategy. China aims to become a global leader in AI by 2030 and is working to reduce its reliance on foreign technology.
These goals have fueled competition between China and the United States, where the Trump administration has restricted exports of AI chips and chipmaking tools to China over national security concerns. Despite the pressure, Chinese companies continue to advance in AI.
DeepSeek, a Chinese startup, drew attention earlier this year with a low-cost model that performs at the same level as systems developed by U.S. firms like OpenAI. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, during a visit to Beijing this month, called models from DeepSeek, Alibaba, and Tencent “world class.”
In addition to the major tech firms, startups such as Unitree, which builds humanoid robots, will also take part in the conference.
