Tech firms huge and small will converge in Shanghai this weekend to showcase their artificial intelligence innovations and support China's booming AI sector as it faces U.S. sanctions.

Pony AI (NASDAQ:PONY) launched 24/7 Robotaxi operations on Friday in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, significantly expanding its service hours in two of China’s most dynamic economic hubs. This shift marks a key milestone in the company’s Chinese expansion,

Nvidia has cautioned against using unauthorized chips in data centers. This follows reports of AI chip smuggling into China. Chinese firms are finding

Yet while the U.S. appears to focus on powerful yet proprietary large language models, enterprise AI, and semiconductors, China is taking a vastly different approach to cultivating its AI industry.

A participant tries out a wearable innovative device at the 24th China Internet Conference in Beijing on July 23, 2025. Photo: IC Global delegates attend the World Internet Conference Digital Silk Road Development Forum held in Quanzhou, East China's Fujian Province, on July 25, 2025. Photo: VCG

HANNA DOHMEN is a Senior Research Analyst at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology and a Nonresident Fellow at the Atlantic Council.

China has invited high-level representatives from over 40 countries and international organizations to attend the 2025 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Thursday.

The AI Action Plan offers a path, but not a concrete plan, for what the administration is thinking when it comes to chip export restrictions.

China is working to merge man and machine through brain-computer interface technology, as part of the country's ongoing efforts to compete in the AI race.

Last week, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said it would soon resume selling its H20 chips to China after a breakthrough with the Trump administration on regulations.