Fruitful results seen at 2022 World Artificial Intelligence Conference

A staff member introduces a minimally invasive orthopedic surgery robot to visitors at the 2022 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in east China's Shanghai, Sept. 1, 2022.(Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

The 2022 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), themed "Intelligent Connectivity, Infinite Multiverse" and kicking off on September 1 in Shanghai, drew a close on September 3, reaping fruitful results.

-- Many new products are launched and multiple major projects are contracted

During the event, industry leading enterprises such as Unity, SenseTime and Nreal showed leading technologies and products of the metaverse industry chain. A total of 16 enterprises launched new products at the conference, and 18 important documents and reports were released.

According to Wu Jincheng, head of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, the 2022 WAIC has brought together more than 500 leading scholars of artificial intelligence (AI) at home and abroad, well-known entrepreneurs, representatives of international organizations and other important guests to exchange views on root technologies, big industries and new ecology of the integration of AI and metaverse.

In addition, as of 2 p.m. on September 3,370,000 people experienced the metaverse exhibition online, and the total number of online viewers exceeded 638 million.

At the closing ceremony, 25 major industrial projects were signed, with a total investment of nearly 15 billion yuan.

Shanghai has successfully held five sessions of WAIC in a row, and over the past five years, the effect of "developing business, attracting and gathering talents through WAIC" has been remarkable, with the industrial scale increasing from 134 billion yuan in 2018 to 305.6 billion yuan in 2021, said Wu.

-- Pudong spearheads innovative AI application

At the Pudong venue of the 2022 WAIC, the Zhangjiang Science Hall has witnessed the release of a series of results and the signing of many projects.

The Metaverse Industry Atlas and the Shanghai Metaverse Standard System were officially released and the Metaverse Innovation and Exploration Alliance was officially established at the WAIC industrial development forum held on September 1.

At the Pudong New Area AI innovation application press conference held on September 2, the top ten achievements of the Shanghai (Pudong New Area) AI innovation and application pilot area and the top ten innovative AI technologies in Pudong were announced, and more than 20 key projects in the AI industry were signed.

Besides, the AI application scenario public service platform was launched, and the Shanghai Industrial Internet Security Research Institute was inaugurated.

These actions have made a new starting point for breakthroughs in core technologies and institutional innovation in the AI sector in Pudong, and helped Shanghai start a new journey in digital transformation.

At the metaverse forum also held on September 2, the Yangtze River Delta Metaverse Development Research Institute and the Yangtze River Delta Metaverse Industry Development Alliance were launched, and important projects were contracted.

The Zhangjiang AI Robot Valley Expert Committee was formally established, and the Zhangjiang AI Robot Valley robot application scenario was officially released at the first Zhangjiang Robotics Global Eco Summit of WAIC. A number of projects were also signed and settled in the valley.

Industry insiders believe that with the realization of the above achievements, it marks Pudong New Area's construction of China's first AI innovation and application pilot area steps into the 3.0 stage.

-- More leading firms increase AI investment in Shanghai

At the 2022 WAIC, more leading companies chose to place their core AI research institutes in Shanghai, so as to deeply participate in the digital economy process of the city.

The Baidu PaddlePaddle AI Industry Empowerment Center, jointly built by Chinese tech giant Baidu and Shanghai-based Zhangjiang Group and officially launched in 2021, has got a new identity at the conference, becoming a National Engineering Research Center scientific and technological (sci-tech) achievement transformation base.

In the future, the center will actively build the sci-tech achievements transformation and application ecology, and deeply integrate into the industrial ecology of Zhangjiang Science City to help Shanghai forge a world-class AI industrial cluster.

On September 3, JD Cloud announced the establishment of the JD Shanghai Industrial AI Research Institute which will focus on the industrial needs of Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta region and join hands with universities and scientific research institutions in Shanghai to carry out research on key and core technologies.

During the conference, Vastai Technologies, a high-end chip design company, has formed a partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University to promote technological progress, personnel training, and transformation of scientific research achievements, with the aim to build a smart chip ecosystem.