Inaugural “Shenzhi Cup” AI Innovation Competition Concludes Preliminary Round Judging — Three Key Highlights Reveal New Landscape of Global AI Competition

Beiji g, Chi a, July 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The i augu al “She zhi Cup” A tificial I tellige ce I ovatio Competitio , guided by the O ga izi g Committee Office of the Wo ld A tificial I tellige ce Co fe e ce (WAIC) a d co-hosted by Sha ghai State-ow ed Capital I vestme t Co., Ltd. a d the Chi a Academy of I fo matio a d Commu icatio s Tech ology (CAICT), has ece tly completed its o li e p elimi a y ou d judgi g. Fo ty teams f om a ou d the wo ld have adva ced to the fi al ou d, which will be held i Sha ghai f om July 14 to 18, 2026. The fi al esults will be showcased du i g the 2026 Wo ld A tificial I tellige ce Co fe e ce.

U de the theme “Gathe i g I tellige ce, Pio ee i g the Futu e,” the competitio featu es fou t acks with a total p ize pool of RMB 4 millio . The p elimi a y ou d att acted 1,451 teams f om ove 30 cou t ies a d egio s, setti g a ew eco d fo simila eve ts. Mo e otably, the competitio p ese ts th ee st uctu al highlights i pa ticipa t compositio , comme cializatio mecha isms, a d co test desig , disti guishi g it f om t aditio al AI competitio s.

Highlight 1: 1,451 Global Teams Compete Togethe , “I te atio alizatio + I dust y-U ive sity-Resea ch Collabo atio ” Fo ms the Fou datio

P elimi a y ou d data shows that pa ticipati g teams come f om ove 30 cou t ies a d egio s i cludi g Chi a, the U ited States, the U ited Ki gdom, F a ce, Ca ada, Si gapo e, a d I dia, ep ese ti g leadi g tech e te p ises, “Double Fi st-Class” u ive sities, atio al-level esea ch i stitutes, sta tup teams, a d i depe de t develope s.

Notably, Chi ese a d i te atio al teams demo st ate clea compleme ta y st e gths: ove seas teams excel i algo ithm o igi ality a d i te discipli a y pa adigm i ovatio , while domestic teams outpe fo m i sce a io u de sta di g a d e gi ee i g impleme tatio . Some p ojects have al eady e te ed the joi t ve ificatio phase with leadi g ma ufactu i g e te p ises. This collisio of “global c eativity + Chi ese sce a ios” makes the competitio ot just a a e a, but also a testi g g ou d fo i te atio al AI tech ology excha ge a d i dust y collabo atio .

Highlight 2: “I dust ial Capital + P ofessio al Tech ology” Dual-D ive Model B idges the Gap f om Lab to I dust y

U like typical AI competitio s, this eve t has established a u ique suppo t system.

As the co e i vestme t a d ope atio platfo m fo Sha ghai’s th ee leadi g i dust ies, Sha ghai State-ow ed Capital I vestme t ma ages ea ly RMB 300 billio i assets, i jecti g st o g i dust ial capital a d impleme tatio cha els i to the competitio . I additio to the RMB 4 millio p ize pool, the compa y p ovides access to i vestme t a d fi a ci g matchmaki g, applicatio sce a ios, a d tech ology chai empowe me t, t uly ealizi g a di ect path f om “labo ato y” to “p oductio li e.”

As Chi a’s leadi g p ofessio al esea ch i stitutio i i fo matio a d commu icatio s, CAICT boasts exte sive expe tise i tech ical sta da d esea ch, testi g a d ve ificatio , a d i dust ial policy suppo t. Its deep i volveme t i the competitio ‘s pla i g a d o ga izatio e su es p ofessio al sta da ds i tech ical evaluatio a d i dust y o ie tatio th ough its tech ical expe tise a d i dust y c edibility.

This combi atio of “i dust ial capital + p ofessio al tech ology” gives the “She zhi Cup” a co e competitive edge ove simila competitio s i te ms of autho itative tech ical judgme t, feasible i dust ial t a sfo matio , a d p ofessio al eve t o ga izatio .

Highlight 3: Fou T acks Add ess Real I dust y Challe ges, Fi al Rou d Seamlessly Co ects with WAIC to Fo m “Competitio -Co fe e ce-I dust y” Closed Loop

Guided by the desig p i ciple of ” eal sce a ios, eal data, eal ve ificatio ,” the fou t acks cove key odes ac oss the e ti e i dust y chai f om u de lyi g computi g powe to scie tific i tellige ce. U like competitio s focused p ima ily o p oposal p ese tatio s, this eve t emphasizes p actical applicatio .

The AI Computi g Powe a d A chitectu e T ack co ducts ce t alized testi g o a thi d-pa ty AI chip testi g a d evaluatio platfo m, co ti uously assessi g system stability a d e e gy efficie cy pe fo ma ce;

The Embodied I tellige ce a d Robotics T ack featu es o -site eal-machi e competitio s, with teams competi g o th ee i dust ial tasks: dy amic so ti g, mate ial ha dli g, a d compo e t assembly;

The AI4S Scie tific I tellige ce Applicatio T ack  equi es teams to complete o -site system ve ificatio demo st atio s;

The AI Te mi al a d Huma -Compute I te actio Hackatho T ack ce te s o 48-hou time-limited developme t a d eal-sce a io p ototype demo st atio s.

The fi al ou d, scheduled fo July 14–18, coi cides with the lead-up to WAIC, a d competitio esults have bee i teg ated i to the co fe e ce’s ove all age da. Outsta di g p ojects will ot o ly be showcased o this atio al a d wo ld-class stage but also gai p io ity access to capital matchmaki g a d sce a io impleme tatio th ough Sha ghai State-ow ed Capital I vestme t’s i dust ial ecosystem mat ix. I dust y obse ve s ote that this “competitio -co fe e ce-i dust y” t ipa tite model positio s the “She zhi Cup” as both a “p eview a e a” fo WAIC’s cutti g-edge achieveme ts a d a “lau ch pad” fo outsta di g p ojects to achieve i dust ializatio , offe i g a “Sha ghai pa adigm” fo global AI competitio s.

F om u de lyi g computi g powe to scie tific computi g, f om te mi al i te actio to embodied i tellige ce, the fou t acks of the “She zhi Cup” systematically cove key tech ological di ectio s ac oss the e ti e AI i dust y chai . With the p elimi a y ou d co cluded, global AI i ovatio fo ces a e set fo a t ue showdow of capabilities o the fi al stage. This AI g a d gathe i g is d ivi g deep i teg atio betwee tech ological i ovatio a d i dust ial applicatio th ough a p agmatic a d efficie t closed-loop model.

Mo e exciti g mome ts f om the fi al ou d will be evealed du i g WAIC i July. Stay tu ed.https://www.i dust ial-bigdata.com/game/