Serving craft beer, playing mahjong, stacking shelves and boxing, the dozens of humanoid robots at Shanghai’s World AI Conference (WAIC) this weekend were embodiments of China’s growing artificial intelligence (AI) prowess and ambition.
The annual event is primed at showcasing China’s progress in the ever-evolving field of AI, with the government aiming to position the country as a world leader on both technology and regulation as it snaps at the US’ heels.
Opening the event on Saturday, Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強) announced that China would set up a new organization for cooperation on AI governance, warning the benefits of development must be balanced with the risks.
Photo: AFP
In the cavernous expo next door, the mood was more giddy than concerned.
“Demand is currently very strong, whether in terms of data, scenarios, model training, or artificial construction. The overall atmosphere in all these areas is very lively,” said Yang Yifan (楊一帆), research and development director at Transwarp Technology Co (星環信息科技), a Shanghai-based AI platform provider.
Organizers said that this year’s WAIC involved more than 800 companies, showcasing more than 3,000 products — the undeniable crowd pleasers being the humanoid robots and their raft of slightly surreal party tricks.
At one booth, a robot played drums, half a beat out of time, to Queen’s We Will Rock You, while a man in safety goggles and a security vest hyped up a giggling crowd.
Other droids, some dressed in working overalls or baseball caps, worked on assembly lines, played curling with human opponents or sloppily served soft drinks from a dispenser. While most of the machines on display were still a little jerky, the increasing sophistication year-on-year was clear to see.
The Chinese government has poured support into robotics, an area in which some experts think China might already have the upper hand over the US. At Hangzhou-based Unitree Technology Co’s (宇樹科技) stall, its G1 android — about 130cm tall, with a two-hour battery life — kicked, pivoted and punched, keeping its balance with relative fluidity as it shadowboxed around a ring.
Most high-tech helpers do not need hardware. At the expo, AI companions — in the form of middle-aged businessmen, scantily clad women and ancient warriors — waved at people from screens, asking how their day was, while other stalls ran demos allowing visitors to create their own digital avatars.
Tech giant Baidu Inc (百度) on Saturday announced a new generation of technology for its “digital humans” — AI agents modeled on real people, which it says are “capable of thinking, making decisions, and collaborating.”
The company recently ran a six-hour e-commerce broadcast hosted by the “digital human” of a well-known streamer and another avatar.
The two agents beat the human streamer’s debut sales in some categories, Baidu said.
For now, few visitors to the WAIC expo seemed worried about the potential ramifications of the back-flipping dog robots they were excitedly watching.
“When it comes to China’s AI development, we have a comparatively good foundation of data and also a wealth of application scenarios,” Yang said. “There are many more opportunities for experimentation.”
Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), founder and CEO of US-based artificial intelligence chip designer Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) on Friday celebrated the first Nvidia Blackwell wafer produced on US soil. Huang visited TSMC’s advanced wafer fab in the US state of Arizona and joined the Taiwanese chipmaker’s executives to witness the efforts to “build the infrastructure that powers the world’s AI factories, right here in America,” Nvidia said in a statement. At the event, Huang joined Y.L. Wang (王英郎), vice president of operations at TSMC, in signing their names on the Blackwell wafer to
AI BOOST: Although Taiwan’s reliance on Chinese rare earth elements is limited, it could face indirect impacts from supply issues and price volatility, an economist said DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) has sharply raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 5.6 percent, citing stronger-than-expected exports and investment linked to artificial intelligence (AI), as it said that the current momentum could peak soon. The acceleration of the global AI race has fueled a surge in Taiwan’s AI-related capital spending and exports of information and communications technology (ICT) products, which have been key drivers of growth this year. “We have revised our GDP forecast for Taiwan upward to 5.6 percent from 4 percent, an upgrade that mainly reflects stronger-than-expected AI-related exports and investment in the third
RARE EARTHS: The call between the US Treasury Secretary and his Chinese counterpart came as Washington sought to rally G7 partners in response to China’s export controls China and the US on Saturday agreed to conduct another round of trade negotiations in the coming week, as the world’s two biggest economies seek to avoid another damaging tit-for-tat tariff battle. Beijing last week announced sweeping controls on the critical rare earths industry, prompting US President Donald Trump to threaten 100 percent tariffs on imports from China in retaliation. Trump had also threatened to cancel his expected meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea later this month on the sidelines of the APEC summit. In the latest indication of efforts to resolve their dispute, Chinese state media reported that
CHINESE EXPORT CURBS: A dispute between China and the Netherlands could halt chip supply, affecting vehicle production, US and European auto associations said Groups representing major automakers late on Thursday warned that a chip disruption stemming from a dispute between China and the Dutch government could quickly affect US auto production. Automakers and their suppliers received notice from chipmaker Nexperia (安世半導體) last week that it could no longer guarantee delivery of its chips, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said, adding that manufacturing could be significantly disrupted. In the US, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents General Motors, Toyota, Ford, Volkswagen, Hyundai and nearly all other major automakers, urged a quick resolution. “If the shipment of automotive chips doesn’t resume — quickly — it’s going to
RSS