SHANGHAI, May 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- FinVolution Group has officially launched the 2026 FinVolution Global Data Science Competition today. This year's challenge focused on turn-taking modeling in conversations, with the aim of giving voice AI a sense of when to speak.
Voice interaction has reached the native-audio era, with AI now responding in real time. What it still lacks is something humans do by instinct: knowing when to take a turn, when to stay silent, and when a brief "mm-hm" is the right reply. Without it, even the fastest model talks over users or lets dialogue stall.
This year's participants will be given thirty seconds of dual-channel dialogue as context, to predict the speech events likely to occur in the next 800 milliseconds, equipping AI with the social intuition to read user intent and respond at the right moment.
The dataset behind the challenge is built from real dual-channel telephone conversations recorded across 35 regions of China, spanning a wide range of dialects and speaking styles. Audio comes paired with ASR transcripts and word-level timestamps, allowing participants to build pure-audio or multimodal systems.
"For more than a decade, this competition has been our way of connecting academic research with real-world application," said Tiezheng Li, CEO of FinVolution Group. "Turn-taking is one of the open problems in voice interaction today. We hope what's built here reaches far beyond research, letting millions of users experience more natural, more human conversation in everyday life."
The 2026 challenge is supported by the China Computer Federation(CCF) Technical Committee on Natural Language Processing as academic advisor, in collaboration with Fudan University's Natural Language Processing Lab. It is also an official partner competition of the 15th CCF International Conference on Natural Language Processing and Chinese Computing(NLPCC 2026). Top-performing teams will earn a direct path to present at NLPCC 2026 alongside the global NLP research community.
Competition Timeline
The 2026 challenge offers a prize pool of RMB 308,000 (approximately USD 42,900) and will unfold in three stages:
Preliminary Round (May 13 – June 19): Participants train locally and submit their prediction results for real-time scoring by the end of June 16. The list of teams advancing to the semifinals will be announced on June 19.
Semifinals (June 20 – July 16): Semifinalists are required to submit Docker images for evaluation by the end of July 7. Finalists will be announced on July 16.
Final Round (July 16 – late July): Finalists will compete in person before a panel of judges, with the exact date to be announced separately.
Registration is now open through the official competition platform.
Over its eleven editions, the FinVolution Global Data Science Competition has drawn close to 10,000 participants from universities, research labs, and technology companies around the world. Past challenges have spanned deepfake detection, credit scoring, fraud detection, user behavior modeling, and dialect recognition. Partnerships with top AI conferences such as IJCAI (2024), CIKM (2025), and now NLPCC (2026) reflect its rising stature in the global AI ecosystem.
About FinVolution Group
FinVolution Group (NYSE: FINV) is a leading fintech company connecting millions of consumers and small businesses with financial institutions through advanced credit technology. Founded in 2007 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2017, the Company operates across China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, and Australia, with longstanding work in AI, big data, fraud detection, and credit risk modeling. FinVolution actively supports academic research through long-running sponsorships of premier AI conferences including WWW, IJCAI, CIKM, and NLPCC.
** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **
FinVolution Launches 11th Global AI Competition: Teaching Voice AI When to Speak
|
SYDNEY, May 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Sungrow, a globally leading PV inverter and energy storage system provider, has once again secured its position at the forefront of Australia's renewable energy sector, earning three No.1 rankings in the highly regarded 2026 SunWiz Awards at Smart Energy 2026.
Following last year's recognition as Australia's No.1 Inverter Manufacturer and No.1 Residential Battery Manufacturer, Sungrow has expanded its market leadership across even more categories. SunWiz officially named Sungrow as:
- No.1 Commercial Inverter
- No.1 Commercial Energy Storage System (ESS)
- No.1 Residential Inverter
These awards are based entirely on verified installation data collected across the Australian market in 2025. SunWiz's methodology reflects real market results, recognizing brands that consistently deliver scale, reliability, and strong channel partnerships.
The recognition highlights Sungrow's continued commitment to Australia's clean energy transition and its growing presence across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. As demand for reliable solar and storage solutions continues to rise nationwide, installers, distributors, and end users are increasingly choosing Sungrow for its proven product performance, local technical support, and long-term reliability.
This recognition also follows the launch of Sungrow's latest C&I solution, the SH110CX hybrid inverter paired with the 50 kWh PowerKeeper battery. Designed specifically for Australia's fast‑growing commercial and industrial segment, the new solution delivers higher efficiency, flexible system design, and advanced safety protection, helping to improve energy resilience and reduce operating costs.
"Achieving three No.1 rankings this year is a powerful endorsement of the trust our partners place in Sungrow," said Joe Zhou, Vice President of Sungrow Asia Pacific. "It reflects not only the strength of our technology, but our long-term commitment to Australia's renewable future. With the launch of our latest Power Keeper series in Australia, we are confident this will further strengthen our position in the C&I energy storage market, delivering greater flexibility and performance for our customers. From powering Australian homes to supporting businesses, we will continue investing in innovation, service, and local support to help drive the nation's transition to clean, reliable energy."
With 13 years of local expertise and a team of more than 100 professionals across Australia, including over 60 engineers and technicians, Sungrow remains committed to empowering Australian homes and businesses with clean, resilient, and future‑ready energy solutions.
About Sungrow
Sungrow, a global leader in renewable energy technology, has pioneered sustainable power solutions for over 29 years. As of December 2025, Sungrow has installed over 1000 GW of power electronic converters worldwide. The company is recognized as the world's most bankable PV inverter and energy storage company (BloombergNEF). Its innovations power clean energy projects across the globe, supported by a network of 520 service outlets guaranteeing excellent customer experiences. At Sungrow, we're committed to bridging to a sustainable future through cutting-edge technology and unparalleled service. For more information, please visit: www.sungrowpower.com/en
CONTACT: luly.wang@sungrow-hq.com
SYDNEY, May 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Sungrow, a globally leading PV inverter and energy storage system provider, has once again secured its position at the forefront of Australia's renewable energy sector, earning three No.1 rankings in the highly regarded 2026 SunWiz Awards at Smart Energy 2026.
Following last year's recognition as Australia's No.1 Inverter Manufacturer and No.1 Residential Battery Manufacturer, Sungrow has expanded its market leadership across even more categories. SunWiz officially named Sungrow as:
- No.1 Commercial Inverter
- No.1 Commercial Energy Storage System (ESS)
- No.1 Residential Inverter
These awards are based entirely on verified installation data collected across the Australian market in 2025. SunWiz's methodology reflects real market results, recognizing brands that consistently deliver scale, reliability, and strong channel partnerships.
The recognition highlights Sungrow's continued commitment to Australia's clean energy transition and its growing presence across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. As demand for reliable solar and storage solutions continues to rise nationwide, installers, distributors, and end users are increasingly choosing Sungrow for its proven product performance, local technical support, and long-term reliability.
This recognition also follows the launch of Sungrow's latest C&I solution, the SH110CX hybrid inverter paired with the 50 kWh PowerKeeper battery. Designed specifically for Australia's fast‑growing commercial and industrial segment, the new solution delivers higher efficiency, flexible system design, and advanced safety protection, helping to improve energy resilience and reduce operating costs.
"Achieving three No.1 rankings this year is a powerful endorsement of the trust our partners place in Sungrow," said Joe Zhou, Vice President of Sungrow Asia Pacific. "It reflects not only the strength of our technology, but our long-term commitment to Australia's renewable future. With the launch of our latest Power Keeper series in Australia, we are confident this will further strengthen our position in the C&I energy storage market, delivering greater flexibility and performance for our customers. From powering Australian homes to supporting businesses, we will continue investing in innovation, service, and local support to help drive the nation's transition to clean, reliable energy."
With 13 years of local expertise and a team of more than 100 professionals across Australia, including over 60 engineers and technicians, Sungrow remains committed to empowering Australian homes and businesses with clean, resilient, and future‑ready energy solutions.
About Sungrow
Sungrow, a global leader in renewable energy technology, has pioneered sustainable power solutions for over 29 years. As of December 2025, Sungrow has installed over 1000 GW of power electronic converters worldwide. The company is recognized as the world's most bankable PV inverter and energy storage company (BloombergNEF). Its innovations power clean energy projects across the globe, supported by a network of 520 service outlets guaranteeing excellent customer experiences. At Sungrow, we're committed to bridging to a sustainable future through cutting-edge technology and unparalleled service. For more information, please visit: www.sungrowpower.com/en
CONTACT: luly.wang@sungrow-hq.com
** This press release is distributed by PR Newswire through automated distribution system, for which the client assumes full responsibility. **
Sungrow Achieves Three No.1 Rankings in the 2026 SunWiz Awards
