The booth of Pudong's Model Matrix Community at WAIC 2026 attracts visitors. [Photo/WeChat ID: pdnews]

The 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) concluded in Shanghai on July 20, highlighting the city's growing role as a global AI innovation hub. The four-day event generated a record 20.36 billion yuan (about $3 billion) in intended procurement, up 25 percent year on year, while attracting more than 400,000 visitors from around the world.

Under the theme "AI Partnership for a Brighter Future," the conference brought together representatives from 102 countries and international organizations, featuring cutting-edge AI technologies, commercial applications and major industry partnerships.

Pudong-based AI companies emerged as some of the event's biggest winners, securing new orders, forging strategic partnerships and unveiling breakthrough technologies across embodied AI, life sciences and computing.

The centaur-style wheeled-legged robot. [Photo/WeChat ID: pdnews]

Among the highlights was Runke Juneng, which launched its new centaur-style wheeled-legged robot at the conference. During WAIC, the company signed a strategic cooperation agreement with a firefighting engineering company that includes an intended order for 100 robots.

Designed for emergency rescue, the robot combines the speed of wheels with the mobility of legs, enabling it to carry payloads of up to 120 kilograms while performing inspection, obstacle removal and rescue operations in challenging environments.

WAIC has also become an important platform for young AI companies to connect with customers, investors and industry partners. Several Pudong startups said the conference enabled them to establish partnerships in just a few days that would otherwise have taken months to secure.

Pudong also showcased a broad range of "AI+" innovations, including AI-powered biomedicine, embodied intelligence, computing chips and quantum intelligence.

At the conference's main forum, Alex Zhavoronkov, founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine, highlighted the company's AI-developed drug candidate Rentosertib, saying AI can reduce preclinical research timelines from about 4.5 years to 12-18 months while maintaining scalability.

During WAIC, Pudong also released a development plan for an AI-plus-biomedicine industrial cluster, integrating its established pharmaceutical industry with its AI innovation resources.

The district's innovation strength was further recognized through the prestigious SAIL Awards, one of WAIC's highest honors. Pudong-based Dongfang Suanxin won a SAIL Award for its energy-efficient software-defined near-memory computing chip, while projects from AgiBot, Robbyant and ShenqiGenesis were shortlisted among the SAIL Top 30.

Dongfang Suanxin's computing chip. [Photo/WeChat ID: pdnews]