The 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance (WAIC 2026) opened in Shanghai on July 17 and runs through July 20. Held under the theme “AI Partnership for a Brighter Future,” the event brings together official representatives, business leaders, scholars, and researchers from more than 100 countries and international organizations. President Xi Jinping attended the opening ceremony and delivered the keynote address, and the conference issued a Chair’s Statement.
One day before the opening, representatives of 29 countries signed the agreement establishing the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) in Shanghai and became its founding members. The organization will be headquartered in Shanghai. Compared with past editions centered on forums and industry exhibitions, a standing intergovernmental cooperation mechanism is the clearest new development at this year’s event.
The industry program has also expanded. Organizers’ pre-conference figures include more than 140 forums, over 1,400 Chinese and international guests, an exhibition area exceeding 100,000 square meters, more than 1,100 exhibitors, over 3,000 exhibits, and more than 300 products scheduled for global debut.
The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization Takes Shape in Shanghai
According to agreement details released by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, WAICO is an independent intergovernmental international organization that follows the purposes of the U.N. Charter and a people-centered approach, with a mandate to advance international AI cooperation and global governance. The conference Chair’s Statement describes it as the world’s first intergovernmental international organization dedicated to AI and says membership will be open to all countries.
The governance agenda is concrete in scope. The Chair’s Statement addresses open-source development, secure and orderly data flows, coordination between computing and energy systems, the impact on employment, risk warning, and emergency response. It also calls for AI to remain under human control. Building technical, talent, and governance capacity in Global South countries is identified as a priority for narrowing the AI divide.
Three follow-up commitments were announced at the opening ceremony: China will provide 5,000 places in AI training and seminar programs for developing countries over the next five years; develop international AI application cooperation centers with ASEAN, the League of Arab States, the African Union, CELAC, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and BRICS; and enable 30 countries to deploy the MAZU AI-powered meteorological warning system. These are forward-looking policy commitments whose execution will need to be verified through subsequent projects and public reporting.
What Industry Signals Emerge From a 100,000-Square-Meter Exhibition?
The 3,000-plus exhibits from more than 1,100 companies span foundational computing, models, agents, devices, and embodied AI. Products highlighted by organizers at the press briefing included Huawei’s Atlas 950 supernode hardware, the MiniMax M3 multimodal model, StepFun’s Agent operating system, a near-memory-computing 3D chip, an AI agent phone, and several humanoid robots and AI dexterous hands. Release status and technical specifications should be checked against each vendor’s formal announcements during the conference.
Smart computing and embodied AI each account for more than 200 exhibitors. That composition broadens the industry focus beyond standalone model capability to computing clusters, agent execution environments, robot hardware, and deployment in real operating environments. Whether the exhibits become purchasable products, run reliably, and offer manageable deployment costs will require evidence beyond launch demonstrations.
The conference has also introduced a dedicated One-Person Company (OPC) Pioneer exhibition zone with projects from 180 companies, while adding venture investment, industry matchmaking, youth innovation, and overseas expansion to its new ecosystem programs. For startups, WAIC is attempting to extend a four-day exhibition into an entry point for financing, supply-and-demand matching, and international partnerships. Subsequent transaction and deployment data will determine whether those services can operate on a continuing basis.
WAIC Academic Adds a Dedicated Research Conference
The inaugural World Artificial Intelligence Conference Academic (WAIC Academic, or WAICA) runs from July 18 to 20. According to the official description, the conference was founded by Chinese scholars and focuses on fundamental AI theory, key technologies, frontier applications, and ethical governance. Its program includes keynote speeches, academic forums, workshops, paper presentations, and technical demonstrations.
Pre-conference figures show that WAICA received 284 papers from nine countries. The official website now provides separate pages for the technical program, accepted papers, posters, and demonstrations, giving academic papers a review and presentation track distinct from the industry exhibition.
Whether WAICA can establish a stable international submission base, transparent review process, and durable citation impact will take multiple editions to assess. Its first edition already places papers, code verification, and early-career researcher exchange in the same time window as WAIC’s industry and governance programs. The accessibility of accepted papers and the reproducibility of their results will be useful measures to watch.
The Conference Is Ongoing, and Launch and Partnership Totals Need Final Verification
As of July 18, 2026, WAIC 2026 had not yet concluded. The figures of more than 300 global product debuts, over 140 forums, and 3,000-plus exhibits are organizer-provided plans or scale estimates and should not be treated as final completion totals.
Confirmed outcomes from the opening stage include the signing of the WAICO agreement by 29 founding member countries, the decision to locate its headquarters in Shanghai, publication of the conference Chair’s Statement, and the formal opening of WAIC Academic. Complete closing data are not yet available for product sales, project agreement value, actual attendance, or the new organization’s operating rules.
This year’s WAIC is advancing governance mechanisms, industry exhibition, and an academic conference in parallel, and each track now has measurable follow-up indicators. The post-conference report should be used to update the product debut list, attendance, partnership value, WAICO’s operating arrangements, and the publication status of WAICA papers.