China touts tech, AI cred at world Web Summit

Lisbon – China is flexing its technological muscles at the global Web Summit in Lisbon from Tuesday, showcasing dancing robots and low-cost artificial intelligence models as Beijing weathers claims that it spied on the AI chip powerhouse Nvidia. “Increasingly, the superstars of the future are not coming from California. They’re coming from China,” Web Summit founder Paddy Cosgrave told the opening ceremony on Monday. At least 70,000 participants from 164 countries, including 10,000 startups and 1,500 investors, are expected to attend the technology conference, which runs until Thursday. The speakers include “more than 50 superstars from China’s leading AI labs, robotics startups, car manufacturers, quantum computing startups, energy startups and more,” Cosgrave said. But the start of the gathering was overshadowed by the scandal that has engulfed Nvidia, the US company that dominates the market for chips used in leading AI systems. Its boss Jensen Huang has acknowledged an affair, reportedly with a woman whom US intelligence officials suspect of spying for China — a claim Beijing denied. Among speakers at the Lisbon gathering is Tao Zhang, co-founder of Manus AI, a fast-growing Chinese artificial intelligence company that Meta reportedly attempted unsuccessfully to acquire. Zhang is due to demonstrate Manus 2.0, an agent capable of autonomously completing a sequence of tasks. The event will also feature Li Chen, co-founder of robotics company Unitree, and William Shi, European president of its rival Agibot. Agibot’s robots took to the stage on Monday, dancing and performing tai chi moves. The Chinese firms Galbot and Ubtech Robotics are also expected to stage demonstrations of their humanoid robots. Also attending is Leo Haojun Wang, co-founder of Pony.ai, which provides AI systems for thousands of robotaxis operating in China and, more recently, Europe. There will also be Deli Zhao, co-founder of the electric vehicle maker Xpeng, which aims to mass-produce flying cars. A prototype was displayed during Monday’s opening events. China is seeking new markets amid weak domestic demand and restrictions on much of the US market on national security grounds. Chinese open-weight AI models, which can be downloaded free and partially modified, are also drawing the attention of European companies including Orange, Renault, Revolut and Siemens. dax/rlp/js