AI conference to be held in July, with online events

The World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), China’s top-level AI event held annually in Shanghai, will be held in July this year as originally scheduled, Shanghai Daily learned on Friday.

Many WAIC forums and exhibition events will be held online this year, said industry sources who attended a closed-door event on WAIC preparations on Thursday.

Online events will include exhibitions on cloud and broadcasting technologies, as well as several lectures.

The WAIC 2020 forums will be held between July 9 and 11, while the exhibition starts on July 8.

The AIWIN competition, a part of WAIC, has already started in April. It is supported by industry giants such as China Mobile, ICBC and Intel. Winners can qualify for ecosystem support and the chance to take part in WAIC, according to organizers.

Shanghai is a nationwide AI development center. In 2019, it had 1,100 AI firms with an annual output of around 140 billion yuan (US$20 billion). Top firms including Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, Microsoft, ABB, iFlytek and SenseTime have set up AI centers in the city.