WAIC to attract top AI experts, execs

MORE than 500 artificial intelligence experts and executives, including Nobel laureates and Turning Award winners, will attend the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, to be held in Shanghai next month.

The WAIC 2020 is scheduled for July 9-11, under the theme of “Intelligent Connectivity, Indivisible Community,” organizers said yesterday during a 30-day countdown event.

As an AI conference with global influence, half of the speakers at the event’s opening ceremony and forums will be from overseas. Many of these guests will attend online summits due to the pandemic.

More than 150 firms, including Microsoft and Amazon as well as Tencent, Alibaba and Huawei will take part in online exhibition events.

The WAIC is a good opportunity for Shanghai to showcase how new technologies can fight epidemics, according to Wu Jincheng, director of the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Informatization.

An official video of WAIC 2020 and a batch of WAIC partners were also announced yesterday. The forums will focus on topics like AI tech trends and AI for a better life.

A roadshow event connecting

AI startups and investors was also held recently as a prelude to the conference. AI tech firms in medicine, robotics, smart driving and chips introduced their businesses and innovations during the roadshow, which was expected to help them raise about 1 billion yuan (US$142.8 million).

The AIWIN competition, a part of WAIC, began in April. It is backed by industry giants like China Mobile and Intel.