# WAIC

Shanghai Carves Out AI Clusters: Inside China’s High-Stakes Push for Hardware Autonomy

Shanghai’s 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) reveals a strategic shift toward specialized industrial clustering, with a primary focus on domestic AI chip development in Zhangjiang. By separating hardware infrastructure from consumer applications, the city is streamlining its approach to achieving technological autonomy and leading the next wave of humanoid robotics.