2026 WAIC prepares to open with interactive AI experiences

Preparations for the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) and High‑Level Meeting on Global AI Governance have entered top gear as Shanghai readies to host the event from July 17 to 20.

The event is a key platform for showcasing frontier technologies and shaping global discussions on AI governance, bringing the technology out of the lab and into daily life for the public to experience firsthand.It will host over 140 forums featuring 1,400-plus experts from China and abroad.

The conference will span three locations, Expo, Zhangjiang, and West Bund, across four exhibition halls with more than 100,000 square meters of floor space, about 14 football fields. More than 1,000 exhibitors will showcase over 3,000 frontier technologies, and more than 300 AI products are set to make their global debut.

The main venue at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center will showcase how robots and AI integrate into daily life, with conference elements and signage already in place at the north square.

The Expo exhibition hall will be divided into three zones, each showing how AI blends into daily life. One zone features a live car production line, where visitors can watch robots assemble vehicles up close. Another recreates a smart neighborhood, with robots acting as guide dogs, domestic helpers, and more. The third is built for interaction, inviting visitors to compete and play alongside robots in real time.

The Zhangjiang area will host robot combat matches, robotic dog races and obstacle courses that visitors can control themselves, alongside smart tennis and AI ping-pong games open throughout the day.

A large-scale virtual-physical hybrid game space will offer an immersive experience.

At the West Bund area, visitors can build robots by hand and try brain-computer interface claw machine games. Special events such as AIGC（Artificial Intelligence Generated Content）music competitions, robotic dog obstacle challenges, and exhibitions that bring together AI and intangible cultural heritage will also be held.

The event will also extend beyond the venues, with six themed walking routes connecting 24 city landmarks. After dark, the excitement continues with a youth AI music variety show, a first of its kind, alongside an international night talk, a product review session, and a creators showcase night.

2026 WAIC prepares to open with interactive AI experiences

Rescuers are deploying high-tech tools such as drones to aid relief efforts in Yunbiao Town, one of the areas hardest hit by flooding in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

On Wednesday morning, vehicles were coming and going, and rescuers were busy loading supplies onto inflatable boats destined for submerged villages.

In villages cut off by flooding where inflatable boats cannot reach, authorities and volunteer groups have deployed large numbers of drones to deliver food, drinking water and medical supplies. "Each drone can carry 80 kilograms of supplies, fly for about 20 minutes on a full load, and drop goods to areas up to five kilometers away," said Tu Junjie, a drone technician of Ramunion Rescue, a Chinese non-governmental and humanitarian relief organization.

"Within five kilometers, a drone flight takes just three to four minutes. With continuous operation, the efficiency is extremely high. Given conditions on the ground, cargo drones would be ideal, and we need skilled pilots to run them," said Xiao Qin, a staff member of Guangxi Beigu Smart Agriculture Company.

China Mobile, a major Chinese telecom company, is using a drone to provide mobile communication signal coverage within a two-kilometer radius above the town, helping residents who lost network access to call for help.

"The drone is equipped with a satellite base station. It flies over areas where power, phone networks are all down. Once it's overhead, it beams down mobile signals so people on the ground can make calls and get help," said Liu Tie, a technician of China Mobile.

By Wednesday afternoon, things in Yunbiao started to turn for the better.

"Floodwaters have receded in the village, but my supermarket remains flooded inside. It hasn't drained out yet. I'm so grateful, thanks to our country. Everyone has shown such kindness," said Lin Qingqing, a local resident.

"The floodwater has receded. All we see is mud now," said Wang Yufeng, another local.

The forecast calls for continued rain across Guangxi over the next couple of days, though it is expected to gradually ease.

Drones aid flood rescue operations in south China's Guangxi