CEOs, scientists confirmed for WAIC event
More than 30 CEOs or top business executives will attend the first-day sessions of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2020 in Shanghai next month, twice last year’s number, city officials said on Monday.
The executives include Chinese CEOs Robin Li of Baidu and Wang Jian of Alibaba Cloud and global business leaders such as SAP President Christian Klein, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, Apple Vice President Isabel Ge Mahe and executives from Microsoft, IBM and Amazon.
Scientists including Nobel laureates and Turing Award winners will also attend the event. Seven Turing winners have been confirmed, compared with two last year.
The WAIC conference is an opportunity for Shanghai to showcase how new technologies can fight epidemics and develop the digital economy, according to organizers, including the Shanghai government.
As one of the three “pilot industries” in Shanghai with strategic meaning and innovation, AI has been used in medical imaging, smart chips and autonomous driving, said Wu Jincheng, director of the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Informatization.
The three-day WAIC conference, themed "Intelligent Connectivity, Indivisible Community,” starts on July 9. Because of the pandemic, most speeches and events will be held online.
Besides revealing the first batch of confirmed speakers, organizers are also expected to reveal 50 projects and products and reach 30 agreements in key industries during the event.
