Countdown to WAIC 2025: Shanghai Unveils Five Major Developments in AI Innovation}

On June 26, 2025, the countdown to the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2025 officially began, unveiling the theme and visual identity. Registration channels for attendees, media, and procurement groups opened simultaneously, marking the start of the final sprint for this global AI event.

As a major platform for China’s technological innovation to engage with the world, this year's theme is “Intelligent Era, United in Progress”. The conference will accelerate progress across five core areas: forums, exhibitions, awards, application experiences, and innovation incubation, gathering global wisdom, showcasing Chinese solutions, and writing an era-defining answer rooted in national strategy and city practice.

1. Inspiring Thought: Over 1200 Experts from 30+ Countries in 100+ Forums

Thoughts often mark the direction of an era. This year, WAIC dives deeper into both technology and societal questions. Over 1200 guests from more than 30 countries, including Nobel laureates, Turing Award winners, and top academicians, will gather for the most knowledge-rich event in history. Leading interdisciplinary experts like Yoshua Bengio, Stuart Russell, and Philippe Rambach, along with international organizations such as UNIDO and the Fields Institute, will discuss topics including AI infrastructure, science, industry, security, and ecological development.

This is not only a thought leadership event defining the future of AI but also a high-level dialogue connecting global wisdom. Ideologies, technologies, and systems converge here, setting the coordinates for the future.

2. Technology as the Path: 3,000 Exhibits Reflecting Industry Innovation

Under the theme of “technology as the foundation and the way,” WAIC 2025 will showcase over 7,000 square meters of exhibition space, with more than 800 companies presenting 3,000+ cutting-edge products, including 40+ large models, 50+ AI terminals, 60+ robots, and numerous world or China premieres, making it the largest in history.

The four main exhibition halls will feature core technology, industry applications, intelligent terminals, and full-scenario linkage, forming an “AI corridor” that integrates algorithms, scene fusion, embodied collaboration, and supply-demand matching. The core technology hall focuses on models, chips, and data platforms; the industry application hall covers new industrialization, autonomous driving, smart cities, and fintech; the terminal hall showcases humanoid robots, hardware, and autonomous systems; and the linkage hall connects startups, investors, and ecosystems to accelerate commercialization.

This is not just a showcase but a comprehensive industry rehearsal, with interconnected models, industry practices, and supply-demand links, gradually unfolding a future from local applications to a full industry landscape.

3. Talent Cultivation: Youth Innovation Sparks

Youth are like waves, surging endlessly; innovation is like a tide, rising through gathering forces. WAIC 2025 will build a multi-dimensional youth innovation platform driven by competitions, awards, and events, activating young talents’ creativity and practice, helping them stand out in the global AI arena.

The conference will upgrade the SAIL Award, Youth Excellent Paper Award, and Cloud Sail Award, recognizing young scientists in fundamental research, technological breakthroughs, and application innovation. It also launches competitions like the BPAA Application Algorithm Model Practice Contest and Youth AI Innovation Challenge, providing practical stages for young talents to learn and create through competition.

Beyond competitions, WAIC 2025 will establish the “Youth Elite Club,” with new spaces like “Youth Lounge” and “Open Mic,” inviting young leaders under 40 for cross-sector dialogues, showcasing youth perspectives and ideas. Roundtable debates and special night events will foster vibrant exchanges, creating an immersive “daytime discussion, nighttime passion” youth tech festival.

Top universities like Oxford, Tsinghua, NUS, Caltech, and HKUST will gather, forming a global youth community that resonates with open-source and startup ecosystems, broadening youth participation and influence.

This is both a starting line and a booster for the era’s young innovators, witnessing their voices, ideas, and achievements, continuously enriching the landscape of AI development.

4. Connecting Capital: Industry-Driven Value Transformation

WAIC 2025 emphasizes practical implementation, upgrading the Future Tech incubation platform and the CONNECT industry matching platform, creating a closed-loop from exhibit to order, from supply-demand to ecosystem flow, accelerating the transformation of scientific achievements into productivity.

As a key platform for global AI startups, Future Tech has attracted over 500 projects in fields like hardware, AIGC, AI for science, embodied intelligence, and more. The CONNECT platform has been upgraded to focus on urban renewal, international expansion, smart manufacturing, and healthcare, with over 30 scenario tasks, 200 procurement lists, and 150 VIP delegations conducting over 100 B2B meetings, forming a direct path from innovation to market.

This is not just a display but a full industry chain, linking models, practice, and investment, shaping a future where technology and industry co-evolve.

5. Expanding Perception: AI as a Sensory Partner

WAIC 2025 introduces the concept of “WAIC City Walk,” where AI becomes a sensory companion integrated into urban life. The “Living Smart Inner Loop,” “City Service Middle Loop,” and “Industrial Ecosystem Outer Loop” depict AI’s deep integration into daily life, urban services, and industry.

The “WAIC 2025 Alley” features themed streets combining retro and futuristic elements, showcasing robot performances, AI markets, and hands-on workshops, creating an immersive experience of AI’s role in everyday life. Future mobility solutions like smart transportation and low-altitude flying vehicles are also highlighted, with companies like IM Motors, Xiaopeng, Chery, and WeRide building integrated autonomous transit systems connecting urban areas and campuses.

The “Smart Volunteer” system, “Hi! WAIC AI,” embeds AI into the event’s service system, offering intelligent Q&A, scene-based navigation, and personalized recommendations, enabling a “human-machine co-travel” experience.

This year, WAIC moves from being a showcase to becoming a living, breathing ecosystem, where AI is not just a display but a partner in sensing and shaping the future, reflecting China’s innovative spirit and global vision.

As the countdown to WAIC 2025 continues, Shanghai stands ready to write a new chapter in AI development, with the answers unfolding here and the future jointly authored by all of us.