上海外滩峰会聚焦人工智能经济 - 2026年09月09日

The Inclusion Conference, also known as the Bund Summit, will be held in Shanghai from September 9 to 12. Under the theme "Building the AI Economy Together," over 600 scholars, scientists, entrepreneurs, investors and innovators will attend the event, with over 300 global technology companies present as exhibitors.

Since 2020, Ant Group has organized four successful conferences with support from the Shanghai Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau, the Huangpu District People's Government and the Shanghai United Media Group, earning a strong domestic and international reputation.

Inclusion 2026 features a 15,000-square-meter technology exhibition, 40 thematic forums, and one main forum. Developer Day, Innovators' Stage, a smart technology innovation competition, a venture capital meetup, and a tech talent recruitment fair will also be held. Inclusion's first AI Art Festival will showcase AI's transformative power through music, visual media and art exhibitions.

Nobel Laureates Thomas Sargent and Philippe Aghion will discuss the AI-driven economy, growth and innovation. Zheng Weimin, Wang Jian, Ling Wen, Su Jilan, Zhang Tongyi and other academics from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Sciences, as well as leaders from Alibaba, Stripe and SenseTime, will discuss AI trends and industrial transformation.

The conference will highlight practical AI applications at the conference, which also covers investment, employment, education, green computing, social governance and human-nature relations.

These sessions discuss the broader effects of AI development on economic and social systems in the AI-driven new economy.

AI is reducing barriers to creation, making innovation accessible beyond large teams and major corporations. Inclusion emphasizes the emerging trend of "one-person companies" (OPCs).

The event features several competitions that have drawn tens of thousands of participants, along with more than a dozen prominent domestic AI coding platforms.

Additionally, the conference uses venture capital platforms like Ant Group's investment ecosystem, the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, and tech incubator Plug and Play China to showcase AI-generated products, opportunities, and organizational models from over 120 sci-tech startups. A dedicated VC Meetup brings together global investment institutions, industry investors, and young "post-1995" investors.

An on-site job fair is making debut at Inclusion, featuring over 50 tech companies that cover a range of areas, including AI models, AI+ applications, AI agents, embodied intelligence, the Internet and Fintech.

The "8-hour lifestyle circle"

Daily life routines including ordering coffee, hailing a ride after work, booking a weekend hotel, scheduling home cleaning services, finding a vet for a sick pet, and spontaneously planning to visit an exhibition, dine out, or run errands can be achieved by artificial intelligence at the Inclusion Conference, where users can speak a phrase like "buy a coffee," "find a reliable housekeeper," or "where can I take my pet for medical care nearby," and the AI will understand, find the right service, and handle booking, ordering and payment.

This reflects the evolving "lifestyle circle beyond the eight-hour workday," where AI transcends its role as a mere office assistant to integrate seamlessly into real-world scenarios such as dining, transportation, leisure, home life, pet care and healthcare.

Alipay's Abao AI has integrated over 10,000 ride-hailing, food delivery, tourism and attractions, and public services across smartphones, in-vehicle systems, smart glasses, and large-model applications.

Multiple devices and service providers can now understand, process, and fulfilll a voice request. Ant Afu (Doctor Version) is China's first AI workstation for doctors, providing millions of doctors with two AI assistants – one for medical knowledge and one as an AI digital twin – for online consultations, patient management, and scientific research.

Order coffee and hail a ride on Abao, claim coupons with Qwen Glasses, and experience smart vehicle features like automated refueling and parking in Li Auto models on-site.

Embodied AI entering physical world

The Inclusion Conference features over 40 embodied AI companies' latest products and robotic technologies. The real highlight is that new robots are becoming workforce assets rather than showpieces.

The technology exhibition this year has expanded to include themed zones for technology, "innovative species," and the "green planet." Over 40 embodied AI companies, including Unitree Robotics, AgiBot, Sudo and Lingbo Technology, are participating. This year's exhibition emphasizes integrating robots into real-world workflows in pharmacies, industrial manufacturing, logistics sorting, inspection, and elderly care, rather than just running or jumping.

The Ant Lingbo universal "brain" allows retail pharmacy robots to autonomously receive orders, identify medications, and pick and deliver items in 80-centimeter aisles. This solution has already been used in Guoda Drugstores to sort overnight medications without changing shelves or layouts. Robots are moving from fixed to flexible workstations in manufacturing.

An autonomous wheeled, dual-arm robot driven by Fudan University's Moushen embodied large model can identify washing machines, bolts, and assembly holes and grasp, position, insert and tighten.

Two humanoid robots from Keenon Robotics work together in laundry rooms to retrieve clothes, operate washing machines, and fold clothes, while Kepler robots in compact coffee shops retrieve cups, prepare drinks and clean up.

Robots are replacing humans in dangerous environments. CelerityAI's autonomous flying agents and robotic dogs can patrol, avoid obstacles, and detect defects in dark, GPS-denied spaces like nuclear power plants, subways, and water treatment facilities despite intense signal interference.

For long-distance, high-risk substation and factory inspections, Rolling AI quadruped inspection robots replace humans. Hypershell's exoskeletons use AI-driven gait sensing to help users walk, climb stairs and hike.

AI festival along the Bund

The Inclusion Conference will launch an AI Art Festival for the first time, which includes an AI concert, a conceptual art exhibition, and a video screening venue.

This fest showcases the creations of over 20 digital artists as well as more than 100 AI-generated video works.

The Inclusion x Yuri AI Concert is scheduled for the evening of September 11, marking the global offline debut of Yuri, China's first officially certified digital human AI virtual idol.

Unlike traditional virtual idol performances, this concert adopts an "AI + Live co-creation" format, bringing together AI artists, human musicians, and cutting-edge technology on the same stage.

Additionally, the special AI video screening venue collaborates with leading domestic AI video creation platforms and art institutions, including MiniMax, Kling AI, TapNow, Wanxiang and HappyHorse.

This collaboration presents over 100 AI-generated video works, which encompass short films, animations, music videos and experimental video art.

Source: City News Service