A trip to Shanghai’s AI mega-conference showed me that China’s developers are still playing catch-up to Silicon Valley

(Credit: Ying Tang—NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Last week, Shanghai hosted China’s largest AI event: The World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), with 500 exhibitors, 1,500 exhibits, over 300,000 attendees, and even an appearance from Chinese premier Li Qiang.

But despite its impressive scale, the conference left me disenchanted. I’d hoped to witness the sector’s technological advancements. Instead, WAIC confirmed my suspicions: There’s a gap between what China’s AI can do and the cutting-edge innovations emerging from Silicon Valley.