The 2025 band meeting unveiled at Huang Bo and the World Expo Park in Shanghai on Wednesday, highlighting the real-world application of artificial intelligence, embodied intelligence, and advanced technology across a variety of industries and aspects of everyday life.
Industry leaders, researchers and enthusiasts gathered to explore the latest advancements and discuss the future of technology.
According to Wang GE, the company's chief scientist, Xeonova, a commercial fusion company based in Hefei, aims to accelerate the development of fusion energy through AI.
“We are working to integrate AI into the current fusion engineering process,” Wang says. The company aims to use AI to build digital twins of fusion reactors, allowing for rapid iteration and optimization in virtual environments.
In addition to energy, robotics AI applications have attracted a lot of attention. Bourghl Clement, a Frenchman who worked on social media in Shanghai, said he was excited about the future and was impressed with the technology of AI and robots.
“I really like all the technology that includes AI and robots. I think some robots are very impressive,” Clement said.
Robbyant, an intelligence reporting company embodied under the Ant Group, introduced the R1 robot, a versatile robot that can cook a complete meal with minimal human intervention.
Liu Yibo, solutions architect at Robbyant, explained that robots can autonomously handle the entire cooking process. “There are about 20 steps in the entire cooking procedure,” he said.
The conference featured a 10,000 square metre technology exhibition and a 5,000 square metre technology market, captivating nearly 200 companies and introducing over 30 new technology products.
The exhibition is divided into sections that explore intelligence, detailed industrial practices, and the limitations of global innovation collaboration.
Created in collaboration with four major robotics industrial parks, “Robot Town” emphasized the symbiotic relationship between humans and machines.
Xeonova's focus on AI-driven fusion technology also addresses the increasing energy demand of AI itself.
Wang said, “We also expect high power demand for AI computing, which means strengthening AI data centers in the future, as traditional power delivery methods may not be able to meet.”
He also said that AI can optimize plasma control in fusion reactors, which previously relied on empirical methods.
According to Wang, China has a notable strength in its fusion energy supply chain despite global competition.
“From a technology assessment by a team of Chinese graduates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, our country has three advantages over other countries.” These advantages include ultra-high voltage transmission technology, thin film superconducting materials, and tritium extraction.
Xeonova has ambitious goals, with plans to generate power from the fusion device within five to ten years.
“We want to achieve the first kilowatt-hour power on our devices within five to ten years,” Wang said. “If this goal is achieved, we will be the first company in China to generate electricity from nuclear fusion.”
The company aims to raise the temperature inside the device to 100 million degrees Celsius within one to two years.
Clement also sees how AI is integrated into everyday life, from smart appliances to medical applications. “I think it's going to make our lives easier,” he said. “Maybe we will live longer with AI, and one day the robots can do surgery.”
While acknowledging potential concerns, Clement expressed his trust in technological advancements and capabilities.
Robbyant's R1 robots are currently deployed in a variety of real-world scenarios, including scenic spot guidance and shopping mall navigation.
Liu said, “We are actively investigating solutions pilot programs in key social and livelihood scenarios, such as medical and rehabilitation.”
The company aims to utilize large-scale, embodied AI models to generalize robotics and integrate them into households.
AI applications extend beyond robotics and energy, and exhibits showcase advances in healthcare, agriculture and finance. For example, AI Health Manager AQ introduced AI-powered skin detection capabilities, while other companies have demonstrated AI tools to detect false medical ads and assist in cancer screening.
