The 2026 Inclusion·Bund Conference concluded successfully at the Shanghai Huangpu Expo Park. Themed "Co-creating the AI New Economy," the event drew over 670 guests from research, industry, and investment sectors to delve into the profound impact of artificial intelligence on production, consumption, business, and societal structures. During the conference, more than 300 companies showcased the latest applications of AI technology in real-world scenarios such as healthcare, payments, finance, retail, and living services. The conference organizers revealed that over 50 technologies, products, and applications were unveiled for the first time over the four days, covering areas like intelligent agents, embodied AI, AI terminals, quantum technology, and fintech.
The event attracted guests and audiences from more than 50 countries and regions, with over 78,000 people attending in person, including a 20% share of "post-00s" attendees, while 23 million people watched the forum livestreams online. At the conference, economists discussed whether AI-driven growth could translate into genuine economic expansion. Nobel laureate in economics Thomas Sargent cautioned that AI is still in the uncertain "Kepler phase." Another Nobel laureate, Philippe Aghion, noted that AI could potentially increase productivity growth by 1.08 percentage points annually, but whether AI's potential can be converted into sustained growth depends on the competitive environment, education system, and employment adaptability.
Trends and Challenges of the AI New Economy
Peking University National School of Development Dean Huang Yiping also focused on whether productivity gains would be matched by corresponding increases in employment, income, and demand. Shanghai University of Finance and Economics President Liu Yuanchun emphasized whether AI investment could ultimately be converted into real productive capacity. Companies demonstrated through practice how the AI new economy serves every individual: AI applications like A Bao and A Fu have made services that previously required professionals more accessible; intelligent agents have begun handling tasks like shopping, booking, and job hunting for users, while AI payment systems are exploring how to truly integrate intelligent agents into transactions.
The conference reached several consensuses: the economic value of AI is shifting from cost reduction and efficiency improvement to creating new demands, supplies, and business growth; intelligent agent commerce has become an important way to open up new growth spaces; as AI begins to replace humans in more tasks, the importance of "trustworthy infrastructure" such as identity, authorization, security, and responsibility traceability has further increased. Participants generally agreed that realizing the benefits of the AI new economy requires balancing efficiency with distributional fairness, and the ultimate value of AI still needs to be measured by "real growth" and "human sense of gain."
At the conference, within the 15,000-square-meter themed technology exhibition area, more than 300 companies showcased the latest advancements of AI from "being able to generate" to "being able to act," with over 50 technologies, products, and applications making their debut. Robots have started entering real work environments such as pharmacies, factories, and laundries, intelligent agents can help users order coffee, call taxis, apply for jobs, and seek medical care, and AI is further reaching into small street-side shops, SMEs, and rural clinics.
To promote further integration of technology into industry, the conference featured multiple industry matchmaking and venture capital events. The industry matchmaking event attracted 350 companies, resulting in over 80 cooperation intentions. The conference also added an embodied AI session for the first time, facilitating "handshakes" between robotics companies and actual industry needs on-site. The concurrent "Venture Capital Meetup" brought together over 500 investors and more than 120 AI startups, with a number of early-stage projects coming into the view of investment institutions and industry players.
The conference's newly established "Innovation Species Exhibition Area" showcased startups, sole proprietorships, and innovative projects, with delegations of entrepreneurs from Latin American countries such as Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay in attendance. The Voyage industry forum, produced by Ant International, attracted nearly 400 overseas fintech representatives for exchange. Young entrepreneurs and developers became another focal point of the conference, with 20% of the audience being post-00s, a phenomenon that has become a true reflection of the times.
Young people are not only spectators but also developers, entrepreneurs, and the main force of innovation. The Bund Hackathon·AI Coding Competition was certified by Guinness World Records for creating the most AI application works in an online generative AI programming marathon, with 15,577 entries. The competition attracted over 10,000 participants, nearly 70% of whom were teenagers under 18, with the youngest participant being just 6 years old.
As Zhejiang Lab Director and Alibaba Cloud founder Wang Jian shared at the conference, young people are the engine of this world, and passion is the fuel. The challenges of the AI era will ultimately be solved by passionate young people. Beyond technology, "people" remain a main theme of discussion at this year's Bund Conference. This year, the conference partnered with Zhihu to launch the "AI Technology and Humanities Ten Questions" campaign, receiving over 5,000 questions from netizens, and the final top 10 questions presented reflect the real concerns of ordinary people in the AI era.
The newly established AI Art Festival explored the boundaries of human creativity in the AI era through different forms such as music, video, and art exhibitions. Discussions on employment, education, income distribution, and the relationship between humans and AI also ran through multiple forums at the conference. The tech talent recruitment fair connected the other end of technology and people, with 55 companies opening more than 1,500 positions during the conference, focusing on large models, intelligent computing power, AI+ applications, embodied AI, internet, and fintech, receiving over 7,000 resumes, of which more than 70% were AI-related positions.
The "Green Planet" themed pavilion turned the "AI energy consumption bill" into a perceptible exhibition, questioning the green value of each token. The "Earth Partner Conference" for the 10th anniversary of Ant Forest was held concurrently, with more than 200 global green innovation projects responding to Ant Forest's advocacy of "respecting natural boundaries and continuing to dream big," participating in the first green technology innovation competition at the Bund Conference, providing new solutions for nature conservation. The 2026 Bund Conference has come to an end, but discussions on how AI can further enter the economy, industry, and daily life continue.