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Shanghai Hosts 2026 World AI Conference, Launches Global AI Cooperation Organization
In a city that never sleeps, Shanghai opened its gates to the world on July 17, hosting the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and a High‑Level Meeting on Global AI Governance. The event ran through July 20 and drew heads of state, senior officials, scholars, and representatives from more than 100 countries and international organisations.
President Xi Jinping of China delivered the opening keynote, setting the tone for a gathering that also welcomed President Kassym‑Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, Prime Minister Hun Manet of Cambodia, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul of Thailand, and UN Secretary‑General António Guterres.
The conference adopted the theme “AI Partnership for a Brighter Future,” emphasizing how artificial intelligence can be shaped and applied to benefit all people. The organising statement declared that AI is “completely reconfiguring economic and social development” and that its opportunities and challenges are expanding, calling for a new governance paradigm that balances development with security, innovation with regulation, and national interests with global well‑being.
Key principles highlighted at the meeting included a people‑centred approach, AI for good, fairness, inclusiveness, and collaborative governance. The statement urged stronger international cooperation, especially to help Global South countries access AI resources, to address uneven distribution of power and resources, and to advance the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
A landmark outcome of the gathering was the signing of an agreement to establish the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO). The pact was signed in Shanghai on July 16 by 29 countries and created WAICO as the first intergovernmental organisation dedicated to AI. Headquartered in Shanghai, WAICO aims to bridge the AI divide, support capacity building in innovation, application, and governance, and keep pace with the scientific and technological revolution. Its guiding principles rest on the UN Charter, respect for national sovereignty and cultural diversity, equality, multilateralism, extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefit.
The conference statement outlined fifteen priority areas for global AI governance: 1. Innovation as a core driver, encouraging enterprise‑led, market‑driven, application‑oriented, research‑grounded, and talent‑based ecosystems. 2. AI empowerment across industries and households, promoting an AI+ model and a token economy built on large language models. 3. Open source and openness, encouraging responsible joint development of open‑source ecosystems and sharing of research outcomes. 4. Data, recognising its fluid and empowering nature, and calling for data security, personal information protection, and the creation of foundational institutions for data property rights. 5. Sustainable AI, integrating AI with energy systems, deploying intelligent computing clusters in renewable‑rich regions, and monitoring AI’s environmental impact. 6. Social transformation, assessing employment impacts, providing AI education and skilling, and safeguarding workers’ rights. 7. Security risks, urging the development of laws, technical monitoring, risk warning, and emergency response systems. 8. Frontier AI technologies, highlighting potential threats to critical infrastructure and calling for guardrails on large language models. 9. AI agents, demanding clear decision‑making authority, behavioral boundaries, and risk‑alert mechanisms. 10. Prevention of abuse by terrorist or criminal groups, and the establishment of global crisis‑management mechanisms. 11. Multilateralism, reinforcing the UN’s central role and supporting the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance and the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI. 12. Economic and trade rules, promoting inclusive cooperation on AI industrial and supply chains and fair participation for all countries. 13. Progress toward the SDGs, urging pragmatic collaboration based on developing countries’ needs. 14. Standards and norms, calling for consensus‑based, scientific, transparent, and inclusive frameworks. 15. Cultural diversity, encouraging adaptation of AI technologies to diverse cultural scenarios and protecting world cultural diversity.
The WAICO agreement and the conference’s policy recommendations signal a coordinated effort to shape AI governance. While the conference did not unveil new AI models or technical breakthroughs, it laid a framework for future collaboration, capacity building, and regulation. The next steps will involve WAICO’s first general assembly, the development of international standards, and the implementation of the outlined governance principles.
The gathering underscored that AI’s rapid advancement demands a balanced approach that protects security and human values while fostering innovation. The establishment of WAICO and the call for global cooperation aim to ensure that AI benefits all societies, particularly those in the Global South, and that the technology aligns with sustainable development goals.
President Xi Jinping of China delivered the opening keynote, setting the tone for a gathering that also welcomed President Kassym‑Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan, Prime Minister Hun Manet of Cambodia, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul of Thailand, and UN Secretary‑General António Guterres.
The conference adopted the theme “AI Partnership for a Brighter Future,” emphasizing how artificial intelligence can be shaped and applied to benefit all people. The organising statement declared that AI is “completely reconfiguring economic and social development” and that its opportunities and challenges are expanding, calling for a new governance paradigm that balances development with security, innovation with regulation, and national interests with global well‑being.
Key principles highlighted at the meeting included a people‑centred approach, AI for good, fairness, inclusiveness, and collaborative governance. The statement urged stronger international cooperation, especially to help Global South countries access AI resources, to address uneven distribution of power and resources, and to advance the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
A landmark outcome of the gathering was the signing of an agreement to establish the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO). The pact was signed in Shanghai on July 16 by 29 countries and created WAICO as the first intergovernmental organisation dedicated to AI. Headquartered in Shanghai, WAICO aims to bridge the AI divide, support capacity building in innovation, application, and governance, and keep pace with the scientific and technological revolution. Its guiding principles rest on the UN Charter, respect for national sovereignty and cultural diversity, equality, multilateralism, extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefit.
The conference statement outlined fifteen priority areas for global AI governance: 1. Innovation as a core driver, encouraging enterprise‑led, market‑driven, application‑oriented, research‑grounded, and talent‑based ecosystems. 2. AI empowerment across industries and households, promoting an AI+ model and a token economy built on large language models. 3. Open source and openness, encouraging responsible joint development of open‑source ecosystems and sharing of research outcomes. 4. Data, recognising its fluid and empowering nature, and calling for data security, personal information protection, and the creation of foundational institutions for data property rights. 5. Sustainable AI, integrating AI with energy systems, deploying intelligent computing clusters in renewable‑rich regions, and monitoring AI’s environmental impact. 6. Social transformation, assessing employment impacts, providing AI education and skilling, and safeguarding workers’ rights. 7. Security risks, urging the development of laws, technical monitoring, risk warning, and emergency response systems. 8. Frontier AI technologies, highlighting potential threats to critical infrastructure and calling for guardrails on large language models. 9. AI agents, demanding clear decision‑making authority, behavioral boundaries, and risk‑alert mechanisms. 10. Prevention of abuse by terrorist or criminal groups, and the establishment of global crisis‑management mechanisms. 11. Multilateralism, reinforcing the UN’s central role and supporting the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance and the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI. 12. Economic and trade rules, promoting inclusive cooperation on AI industrial and supply chains and fair participation for all countries. 13. Progress toward the SDGs, urging pragmatic collaboration based on developing countries’ needs. 14. Standards and norms, calling for consensus‑based, scientific, transparent, and inclusive frameworks. 15. Cultural diversity, encouraging adaptation of AI technologies to diverse cultural scenarios and protecting world cultural diversity.
The WAICO agreement and the conference’s policy recommendations signal a coordinated effort to shape AI governance. While the conference did not unveil new AI models or technical breakthroughs, it laid a framework for future collaboration, capacity building, and regulation. The next steps will involve WAICO’s first general assembly, the development of international standards, and the implementation of the outlined governance principles.
The gathering underscored that AI’s rapid advancement demands a balanced approach that protects security and human values while fostering innovation. The establishment of WAICO and the call for global cooperation aim to ensure that AI benefits all societies, particularly those in the Global South, and that the technology aligns with sustainable development goals.
