(Bloomberg) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping will make his first appearance at the country's flagship AI conference, signaling the growing importance Beijing attaches to the technology as its rivalry with the US intensifies.
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Xi will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the three-day World AI Conference in Shanghai starting Friday, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Monday.
Xi's attendance marks an upgrade from last year, when Premier Li Qiang headlined the event and warned against AI monopolies. At the time, Beijing also announced the establishment of a cooperation organization that jostles with the US for influence over global AI standards.
That competition has only grown more fierce. Chinese companies such as DeepSeek and Zhipu are racing to create models that challenge Silicon Valley's top offerings. Anthropic PBC recently accused Chinese rivals, including Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., of "illicitly" accessing its models to replicate their capabilities, while the White House has moved to limit foreign access to frontier models, citing national security concerns.
The upcoming conference in Shanghai is set to gather thousands of tech founders, Chinese officials and deep-pocketed financiers. The event, which has featured Elon Musk and Jack Ma in previous years, was launched in 2018 to showcase China's cutting-edge technology.
Much of the programming this year centers on AI governance and its impact on the broader economy and society, according to a rundown published by organizers.
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