Introduction

On July 25, 2025, the World AI Conference in Shanghai opened under a cloud of escalating U.S. export restrictions, yet Beijing welcomed more than 800 tech firms including Huawei, Alibaba, DeepSeek, Unitree, and even Tesla and Amazon. Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered the keynote, emphasizing AI as a national mission targeting global leadership by 2030.Reuters

“Despite sanctions, this is our moment to showcase resilience, innovation, and independence in AI,” Li said, framing the event as both defiant and aspirational.

Why it matters now

• U.S.–China AI face-off intensifies: China is hosting a global AI expo amid chip export curbs, signaling determination to press forward without foreign dependency.
• Breakout innovation models: DeepSeek and Alibaba’s latest models reportedly match industry leaders at a lower cost, earning praise from Nvidia’s Jensen Huang.Reuters
• Global firms onshore demos: Tesla, Amazon, Alphabet and others are participating, suggesting Asia’s rising prominence as an alternate showcase platform.

Call‑out

Over 3,000 AI products and robots are on display, an audacious public bid to claim global AI leadership even under sanctions.

Business implications

• Global AI vendors risk losing access and influence if U.S.-China cold tech logistics continue.
• Chinese AI firms gain cachet and likely export opportunities through state-backed exposure.
• Investors and startups should monitor China’s shift toward self-sufficient AI ecosystems, realigning funding and go‑to‑market strategy.

Looking ahead

The two-day event continues through July 26, featuring 40 LLM demos, 60 robotics showcases, and keynotes from Nvidia and Alibaba execs. Analysts predict that by 2030, 30–40 % of global AI R&D may originate from Chinese labs insulated from U.S. influence.

The upshot: As Beijing stages a global AI showcase in defiance of export restrictions, a new “two-speed” innovation world may be forming, where Chinese AI ecosystems flourish under self-reliance and domestic momentum.

Source: Reuters, World AI Conference coverage, Shanghai, July 25, 2025. seekingalpha.com+14Reuters+14