(Yicai) July 7 -- Shanghai will host a record-size 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance from July 17 to 20, where more than 1,100 companies will showcase over 3,000 exhibits, including more than 300 global product debuts.

The exhibition will span more than 100,000 square meters for the first time, according to information released at a municipal government press conference today. Several Shanghai-based AI companies will also debut new products, highlighting China's innovation capabilities across the AI value chain, from computing infrastructure to applications.

Huawei Technologies will showcase its AI data center infrastructure platform, Atlas 950 Super Node, while large-language model startup MiniMax will debut its M3 multimodal LLM. The exhibition will also feature what organizers described as the world's first AI agent smartphone, along with a range of humanoid robots and AI-powered dexterous robotic hands. More than 200 companies will participate in each of the intelligent computing and embodied AI exhibition zones, where visitors can watch humanoid robots perform factory tasks and experience smart manufacturing processes involving automotive batteries, motors, and electronic control systems.

The conference will feature more than 140 academic forums, bringing together eight national key laboratories, more than a dozen international organizations, and over 1,400 guests from China and abroad.

WAIC will also launch its first high-level international academic conference, WAIC Academic, chaired by Andrew Yao, the first ethnic Chinese winner of the Turing Award. An academic committee comprising Chinese and international academicians has received more than 280 paper submissions from around the world.

Reinforcement learning pioneer Richard Sutton will deliver a keynote speech, while several Turing Award and Nobel Prize winners have confirmed their attendance.

Shanghai's 394 AI companies above the designated size generated a total output of CNY637 billion (USD93.7 billion) in 2025, up almost 40 percent from a year earlier, according to figures released at the press conference. Officials said AI has become a key driver of the city's economic growth.

Editor: Emmi Laine