The 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference & High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance kicked off in Shanghai on July 17, 2026. Photo: Chen Xia/GT

Major Chinese technology companies have showcased their latest computing power innovations at the ongoing 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, highlighting China's rapid push to expand artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure amid booming demand.

From a fully domestically developed 100,000 card AI supercluster to a space and ground integrated AI infrastructure system, Chinese companies at the WAIC showcased advances in computing power and AI applications. Experts said that these cutting-edge developments reflected China's accelerating efforts to strengthen its computing power infrastructure, which will provide critical support for the large-scale application of AI across industries.

As a key platform for cooperation, the WAIC features more than 140 forums and brings together 1,400 guests from China and abroad this year under the theme "AI Partnership for a Brighter Future," the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Among the exhibits at the conference, a massive computing system drew wide attention. The "Dengfeng" version of Sugon 8000, the country's first fully domestically developed 100,000 card AI supercluster, made its global debut.

Developed by Sugon, a subsidiary of China's leading supercomputer manufacturer Dawning Information Industry Co, the Sugon 8000 AI supercluster adopts a super intelligent integration technology approach that combines scientific computing and intelligent computing, China National Radio (CNR) reported.

The Sugon 8000 supports full precision computing and can be applied in various scenarios, including scientific computing, large-language model (LLM) training and inference, and industrial simulation, said the CNR report.

The Sugon 8000 has been connected to the national integrated computing power network through the National Supercomputing Internet, completing optimization for more than 300 key applications across fields including LLMs, robotics, drugs, new materials, quantum computing and astronomy.

Also during the WAIC, the first satellite constellation under Shanghai's "Xingshu Plan," the city's flagship space computing constellation project, was officially unveiled. The plan, which means "the core hub of the starry sky and a central hub for computing power," is a flagship project in Shanghai's strategic development of the space-based computing power industry, the Securities Times reported.

The project will expand from two computing satellites and 12 edge computing satellites in the verification phase to a 1,000-satellite constellation for commercial operations, according to the report.

China's space-based computing power sector has been developing rapidly, with broad application prospects across various fields. Shanghai enjoys unique advantages, as the city is a national leader in integrated circuits and home to multiple emerging companies in the computing power sector, Chi Nan, a professor at Fudan University, told the Global Times.

The "Xingshu Plan" project is expected to launch two to 12 satellites next year, complete the deployment of 200 satellites by 2030, and launch 800 satellites by 2032, according to Chi.

On Saturday, Chinese technology company SenseTime announced at the WAIC several data center cooperation projects involving domestically developed computing power clusters and space-based computing power. The company plans to launch four computing satellites with Adaspace within this year and build five domestically developed computing power clusters with more than 10,000 cards each within two years, according to the company.

On the same day, SenseCore, SenseTime's AI infrastructure platform, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Chengdu-based Adaspace Technology Co. The two sides announced plans to jointly build the SenseTime Computing Power Constellation, which is expected to expand to a constellation of 1,000 satellites with computing capabilities measured in multiples of 10,000 petaflops, the company told the Global Times on Sunday.

A petaflop is a unit used to measure computing speed for AI and data-intensive tasks, where 1 petaflop equals 1 quadrillion calculations per second.

Chinese chip firm Biren Technology said in a statement sent to the Global Times on Sunday that it unveiled at the WAIC its next-generation supernode solution with Near-Packaged Optics optical interconnect and a distributed decoupled architecture, supporting up to 1,024 Graphics Processing Units in a single supernode for scale-up expansion.

According to SenseTime, the joint project aims to advance AI infrastructure from ground-based 10,000 card clusters to coordinated multi satellite computing in orbit, creating a global space and ground integrated AI infrastructure system.

With the rapid growth of AI, especially as the era of physical AI emerges, computing power is breaking beyond the boundaries of the ground and moving into space, Zhao Hongjie, vice president of Adaspace Technology Co, told the Global Times on Sunday, noting that the concept of space-based computing power is gradually gaining broad recognition across both the AI and aerospace industries.

"Space-based computing offers advantages including global coverage, lower costs and sustainability," said Zhao.

China is a global leader in AI development. In 2025, its core AI industries were worth more than 1.2 trillion yuan ($176.6 billion), while the number of AI enterprises nationwide exceeded 6,200, Xinhua reported.

China's 2026 government work report for the first time called for creating "new forms of a smart economy," with hyper-scale intelligent computing clusters and coordinated computing-power and electricity development listed among key tasks.

Against this backdrop, the latest breakthroughs showcased at the AI conference reflect China's efforts to expand computing power infrastructure and accelerate AI adoption across industries, Xiang Ligang, a veteran industry analyst, told the Global Times on Sunday.

With the rise of LLMs and embodied intelligence, computing power demand is growing rapidly. Xiang said that China's expansion from ground-based clusters to space-based systems will help build a more flexible computing ecosystem and support future AI applications worldwide.