China kicks off its annual World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai this week in a showcase of Beijing’s
AI ambitions amid a deepening technological rivalry with the US.
The annual event, which is hosted by several government ministries, has attracted China’s top AI firms and institutions. The published agenda that runs from Thursday to Saturday is dominated by local firms and speakers, with some big international names conspicuously missing. Most notably,
Microsoft-backed OpenAI, the developer of
ChatGPT, will not be in attendance.