On July 20, the four-day 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance came to a close in Shanghai, leaving behind a string of record-breaking numbers.
Key Data: Record Highs in Both Scale and Influence
The total exhibition area of this year's conference exceeded 100,000 square meters for the first time, with 1,117 enterprises participating and 4,486 exhibits on display, of which 351 products made their global debut. The conference attracted representatives from 102 countries and international organizations, with cumulative on-site visitors exceeding 400,000 and global online traffic surpassing 3 billion. The conference organized 177 major global procurement delegations, with intended procurement amounts projected to reach approximately 20.36 billion yuan, marking a 25% year-on-year increase.
Major Achievements: China's AI Governance Approach Gains International Recognition
At the regular press conference on July 20, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian outlined the conference's five major outcomes: clarifying the direction of global AI governance, helping bridge the global AI divide, achieving significant progress in the preparatory establishment of the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization, broadly consolidating global consensus on AI governance, and promoting international cooperation in AI development.
At the closing ceremony, 32 major Shanghai AI projects were signed in a centralized ceremony, covering areas such as AI infrastructure, agent applications, embodied intelligence, and AI for science, with total investments exceeding 40.9 billion yuan.
Conference Theme: From "Eloquent Talk" to "Tangible Action"
This year's conference clearly outlined the evolutionary trajectory of AI – artificial intelligence is moving from being "eloquent in speech" to "taking tangible action." AI-powered smartphone agents are transforming into "digital butlers" that automatically execute commands; robots are entering factories and homes in diverse forms; and computing power infrastructure is shifting from single-card competition to systematic coordination. The industry is no longer competing over parameter counts; instead, the effectiveness of industrial implementation has become the core benchmark for measuring the value of AI technologies.
The most critical signal from this year's WAIC is that AI has moved beyond the "proof-of-concept" stage and entered the deep waters of "large-scale implementation." From the dazzling array of live robotic demonstrations inside the exhibition halls to the traffic command robots actually operating on Shanghai's streets outside the venue, AI is visibly integrating into every industry and sector. The participation of 400,000 on-site visitors also demonstrates that AI is no longer a "technological game" for a select few, but a "mass topic" reaching millions of households.