On the afternoon of June 17, the 30-day countdown press conference for the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference & High-Level Conference on Global AI Governance was held in the Four Seasons Hall of the Expo Riverside Hotel. During the event, the conference theme, five newly launched ecosystem initiatives, and the “Hi WAIC” app—the event’s first open AI ecosystem platform—were unveiled at the event, marking the beginning of the final countdown to the conference.
According to reports, this year’s conference will take place in Shanghai from July 17 to 20 across three major areas: Expo (E Shanghai World Expo Center, World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center), Zhangjiang (Zhangjiang Science Hall), and West Bund (West Bund International Exhibition and Convention Center). Guided by the theme “AI Partnership for a Brighter Future,” the event features six major segments: forums and conferences, exhibitions, awards and competitions, application experiences, innovation incubation, and talent recruitment. It plans to host over 140 thematic forums, gather more than 1,400 international guests, and cover a total exhibition area exceeding 100,000 square meters. Over 1,100 global companies will exhibit, showcasing more than 3,000 products. Additionally, a dedicated OPC display area will be introduced for the first time, welcoming 180 companies to present their achievements.
The Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology of Shanghai introduced the overall preparation of the conference. This year’s event responds to the generational shift of artificial intelligence moving from a technical tool to a collaborative partner, pointing toward a shared vision of global co-governance, industrial co-advancement, and urban co-sharing. The Commission also released the SAIL Award TOP 30 shortlist. As the highest honor of the conference, the SAIL Award (Superior AI Leader) embraces “transcendence, empowerment, innovation, and leadership” as its core values. It aims to discover widely recognized projects globally that hold significant value for enhancing human well-being, serving as an important indicator of technological breakthroughs and industrial adoption.
The latest progress of WAIC-Academic was also introduced at the conference. Serving as China’s independent, world-class academic stage for AI, the academic conference is chaired by Turing Award winner Andrew Yao. Professor Richard Sutton, the “Father of Reinforcement Learning,” serves as the international co-chair, while Zheng Qinghua, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and E Weinan, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, serve as joint program committee chairs. WAIC-A gathers global wisdom through a collaborative review mechanism of “AI + Public + Experts,” ensuring that innovative ideas are not constrained by conventional academic formats. To date, it has received 284 valid submissions from more than 10 countries and regions, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, France, and Spain, as well as Hong Kong and Macau, with the acceptance rate strictly controlled at around 20%.
Donghao Lansheng announced the official launch of the WAIC City Walk program and, together with the Foreign Affairs Office of the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, the Science and Technology and Economy Commission of Pudong New Area, and the New Industrialization Promotion Office of Xuhui District, officially launched the first batch of city routes. Oriented toward public experience, the WAIC City Walk connects all 16 districts of the city, linking AI experience sites scattered across shopping malls, industrial parks, and neighborhoods into a cohesive chain. This transforms the entire city into a citywide exhibition space, allowing artificial intelligence to step off the exhibition stands and into the daily lives of the general public.
Donghao Lansheng announced the latest list of cooperating institutions, partners, and media partners. The addition of new partners continues to expand WAIC’s international network; Lightelligence spoke as an industry representative.
At the conference, Donghao Lansheng Vici Gravity officially launched the “Hi WAIC” app and opened ticket registration channels simultaneously. “Hi WAIC” is the conference’s first AI-native platform equipped with a self-developed ecosystem engine and built on a multi-agent architecture. Integrating smart events, supply and demand matchmaking, vertical content, circle-based social networking, think tank data, and tiered memberships, it upgrades WAIC from an annual top-tier industry event into a year-round AI ecosystem connecting online and offline communities.
Following that, Donghao Lansheng Vici Gravity introduced the brand-new ecosystem matrices for WAIC 2026: WAIC Future Tech (venture capital ecosystem), WAIC CONNECT (connection ecosystem), WAIC UP! (knowledge ecosystem), WAIC YOUNG (youth entrepreneurship ecosystem), and AI GRAVITY (global expansion ecosystem). These focus on startup incubation, industrial matchmaking, public knowledge, youth innovation, and international cooperation respectively. The five ecosystems complement one another while intertwining to cover the full life cycle from talent cultivation to industrial implementation.
Following the press conference, the offline national finals of the OPC Independent Pioneer Challenge took place. This is a key specialized competition established by the conference for “one-person companies” and super-individuals of the AI era. Winning projects selected from fierce competitions across eight major national divisions gathered on the finals stage for pitching their projects in the final round. The competition focuses on smart tools empowering personal creation, lightweight organizations, and new entrepreneurial models, reflecting the emergence of new forms of innovation and entrepreneurship in the AI era.
With the conference now entering its final countdown, Shanghai is preparing to welcome global innovators, industry leaders, policymakers, and researchers. In 30 days, the city will once again become a focal point for international dialogue on artificial intelligence and its future development.
Currently, the audience registration channel has opened on the official conference app “Hi WAIC.” Scan the QR code below or search for “Hi WAIC” in mobile app stores to download. Meanwhile, channels for group delegations and journalists have opened on the official website. One ticket grants access to all venues across the Expo, Zhangjiang, and West Bund areas, all of which feature a rich array of conferences, exhibitions, activities, and experiences.
