The launch of WAIC Academic will strengthen China's presence in the global AI research community and help address pressing real-world challenges, according to industry experts and leading academicians.

As an integral part of the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, WAICA was held on July 18 to showcase China's advances in AI research and foster deeper collaboration with the international academic community. Chaired by Turing Award laureate Andrew Chi-Chih Yao, this year's conference attracted leading researchers from the United States, Japan, Singapore, France, and other countries.

The conference received 282 valid submissions, of which 57 were accepted. It also piloted a new review process that combines AI-assisted format verification with double-blind peer review, aiming to build an open, professional, and traceable academic exchange platform.

In a video address, Turing Award laureate and computer science pioneer John Edward Hopcroft said that when the field of computer science first emerged more than 60 years ago, few could have imagined the extraordinary progress it would achieve.

He said AI is now at a similarly transformative moment, encouraging young researchers to remain curious about the nature of intelligence and to pursue difficult problems with determination so their work can deliver AI’s benefits to society as a whole.

Source: China Daily