(Yicai) March 12 -- The 2026 Appliance and Electronics World Expo opened today in Shanghai with over 1,200 participating leading global home appliance and consumer electronics companies highlighting the accelerating application of artificial intelligence technology, with some products already having embedded AI agents.

Midea Group rolled out its smart home strategy right before the expo opened yesterday, centered around "one interconnected appliance network, one intelligent brain, and one open platform." It also debuted its proprietary smart home AI agent MevoX.

The four-day AWE is considered one of the world's three major consumer electronics expos. This year's event, themed "Smart AI, Smarter Future," expands beyond its regular venue at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre by adding an extra pavilion in the Shanghai Eastern Hub International Business Cooperation Zone dedicated to cutting-edge smart tech products, bringing its total area to 170,000 square meters.

"Midea will step up the AI transformation of all home appliance products through its integrated smart home ecosystem over the next three years," said Zhao Lei, vice president of the Foshan-based firm and president of its Smart Home Business Group.

"2026 is a pivotal year for the evolution and large-scale adoption of AI applications in the home appliance sector," noted Yu Guitao, head of the Intelligent Kitchen Appliance Research Institute at Fotile Group.

Fotile, which has a long-term goal of building a fully AI-managed smart kitchen, is co-developing a cooking robot with the Zhejiang Humanoid Robot Innovation Center. The company will also launch a closed beta test of its agent-to-agent open smart ecosystem this year.

"Home appliance AI agents are evolving from passive command responders to proactive service assistants this year," Wang Zhiguo, chief technology officer of Skyworth Group, said to Yicai. Unlike the traditional model, where users issue instructions and machines simply execute, upgraded AI agents come with memory and autonomous execution functions, Wang noted.

For example, users only need to scan clothing tags via a mobile app for the connected Skyworth washing machine to automatically match the optimal washing mode, Wang pointed out.

National Standards for Interconnectivity and Interoperability

Recent developments have also created a broad consensus among leading companies in the industry to push for unified national standards for smart home interconnectivity and interoperability.

The core competition in the home appliance industry has shifted from standalone product performance to cross-device, cross-service, and cross-scenario ecosystem building capabilities, said Sun Liming, VP of Ningbo-based Fotile.

Skyworth plans to install its self-developed Coolita OS, its dedicated smart home appliance operating system, across its full range of home appliances, while upgrading the AI agent embedded in the smart home control center built into all its televisions.

"We need to build a shared ecosystem and open up the underlying technology platform, so that all brands' products can connect and work together smoothly," Zhao noted. Midea's smart appliances have already achieved seamless interconnection with mobile phones and vehicles from multiple other brands, he added.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is leading the formulation of mandatory national standards for interoperability, targeting the "final barrier" that blocks consumers from enjoying a consistent cross-brand smart home experience, said Qu Zongfeng, VP of the China Household Electrical Appliances Research Institute. "Only open collaboration can truly break down industrial silos, and bring smart home appliances into ordinary households on a large scale."

A standardization roadmap for the smart home industry was released during the opening ceremony of the AWE. The China Household Electrical Appliances Association and the China Communications Standards Association will also hold a closed-door seminar to discuss the development of vehicle-home interconnection standards at the expo.

"AI agents have been widely applied in smart home devices, while cross-category interconnection scenarios such as vehicle-home interaction are already in place," an industry insider told Yicai. "The national smart home interoperability standards are expected to be finalized and released by the end of next year," the person said.

Only by significantly improving user experience can smart home appliances achieve mass market penetration, the insider stressed.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev