Shanghai is providing ample space and policy support to enterprises to grow AI expertise and application.
Workers at a kitchen appliance manufacturer use robotic arms to make a pot in less than five minutes; dock workers use levers to accurately grab and move containers; and doctors operate auxiliary robot systems to perform complex surgical operations with just a click …
In Shanghai, artificial intelligence (AI) has become a common sight in numerous fields including smart production, smart finance, and smart cities, and is profoundly changing people’s lifestyles. AI and other cutting-edge technologies are also sparking a new wave of innovation globally.
As one of the three leading industries, AI has seen rapid development in Shanghai, which has formed an active and integrated industrial ecosystem across the city, and established a number of AI specialty parks.
A robot performs shooting a basketball into a net during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2023 in Shanghai on 6 July 2023.
Smart Factory
In the Aishida (ASD) Intelligent Valley in Qingpu District of Shanghai, robots are simulating the production of cookware, from polishing, sorting, and assembling to handling and palletizing, each step marked by high precision and efficiency.
“By using robotic arms, making a pot, which used to take two hours, has now been shortened to five minutes,” said Chen Meirong, executive vice general manager of Shanghai ASD Robotics.
To many Chinese, ASD is a bellwether of the Chinese cookware industry. However, what many people do not know is that this “pot-making company” saw the business potential of AI early and has entered the field of intelligent manufacturing.
In 2016, ASD embarked on a path of transformation. It acquired Zhejiang Qianjiang Robot Co. and began to expand in the field of intelligent manufacturing, creating a full industrial ecosystem for robots. Nowadays, almost all core components of the industrial robots it produces are independently developed. The robots perform various tasks such as welding, polishing, cutting and casting, besides other applications in sectors such as automotive parts, food and beverage, and metal processing.
Chen said that the 500 Qianjiang robots and more than 1,000 complete sets of automated intelligent production lines deployed by ASD have increased production efficiency by an average of 22.46 percent, reduced costs by 23 percent, and decreased unit energy consumption by 12 percent.
“Based on AI and big data, our robots’ intelligent perception, trajectory planning, operational accuracy, and interaction ability are constantly optimized, so that workers can easily operate the robot after training,” Chen told China Today.
Shanghai is the first city in China to include robot density into its statistics — the number of robots per 10,000 employees. At present, the robot density of key industrial enterprises in the city has reached 426 units, ranking top in the world.
According to an action plan issued by the central government in 2023, China’s robot density in the manufacturing sector will double by 2025 from that of 2020. In Shanghai, the robot density in key industries will reach 500 units in 2025.
As the “factory of the world,” China has been the world’s largest market for industrial robots for 10 consecutive years, and its share of global installed capacity increased from 14 percent in 2012 to 52 percent in 2022.
Robots in ASD Intelligent Valley simulate the production of cookware. Xia Yuanyuan
Super AI Brain
At present, large language models (LLMs) have become the mainstream trend of AI development. Official data shows that China’s number of self-developed LLMs ranks second in the world, and over 100 LLMs with more than one billion parameters each have been launched in the country.
Shanghai is on course to build itself into an AI nexus with global influence by fostering research and development platforms, industrial clusters and pilot projects.
In Shanghai’s Xuhui District, the SMC Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Center displays the rapid advancement of the LLM industry in the city.
Officially launched in 2023, the center is one of China’s first dedicated incubators and accelerators for LLMs. It aims to solidify Shanghai’s bid to create a world-class, globally competitive AI industry cluster. Sixty LLM-related enterprises have already joined the community.
For LLM-related enterprises and startups, computing power determines model speed. Strong computing power support is what many companies want. “The high cost of computing power can deter many small and medium-sized enterprises. But SMC provides computing power support for its tenant companies,” said Shen Weifeng, vice president of HiDream.ai, an early tenant specializing in the use of AI to generate images and videos.
According to Chen Haici, general manager of the SMC Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Center, the organization works with China’s three major telecommunications operators as well as computing power suppliers such as Tencent Cloud, Alibaba Cloud, Huawei, and SenseTime to not only offer sufficient computing power resources, but also assist enterprises in managing, allocating, and optimizing their computing power usage.
To solidify the foundation for resident enterprises, the SMC has established five major functional platforms, namely computing power distribution, open data, evaluation services, financial services and comprehensive services, supporting companies in terms of text corpus, computer resources, and investment funds, Chen said.
So far, 15 LLM-related enterprises based in SMC have entered the market, accounting for about 20 percent of the total number in China.
Shen Weifeng, vice president of HiDream.ai, an early tenant of the SMC Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Center, shows how to use AI to generate images and videos in Shanghai on 23 May 2023.
Policy Support
Zhang Bing, a product manager at Midu, one of the first enterprises to settle in the center focusing on government large models, said, “Our team started with only around 10 people last year, and now we have over 100 employees, significantly exceeding our expectations. The most crucial factor is the attention and support from the national and local governments for this industry.”
On November 7, 2023, Shanghai announced 11 measures for the innovative development of LLMs from 2023 to 2025, focusing on supporting the innovation capability of LLMs, enhancing the supply of innovation elements, promoting innovative application, and creating a first-class innovation environment. Other cities such as Beijing, Shenzhen in southern Guangdong Province and Hangzhou in northern Zhejiang Province have also rolled out AI technology advancement plans.
The Shanghai Measures to Promote the Innovation and Development of Big Models in Artificial Intelligence (2023-2025), issued in 2023, cover 11 areas, including the implementation of the big model innovation support plan and the implementation of the big model demonstration application promotion plan. According to the measures, Shanghai will encourage Pudong New Area, Xuhui District and other places to establish LLM clusters, focusing on the research and development, and industrialization of LLMs. In terms of talent, Shanghai is encouraging enterprises, universities and scientific research institutions to jointly cultivate interdisciplinary LLM talent.
China’s AI industry is thriving, reaching a scale of RMB 500 billion (US $71.4 billion) with the number of enterprises surpassing 4,300. Continuous innovation has led to a steady stream of achievements, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed in July 2023.
