AI Engineer Summit
November 5–6, 2026 • Shanghai, China

AI Engineer
Shanghai

Where China’s AI frontier meets the world’s best researchers.

800 attendees — half from China’s top AI labs, half international researchers — for two days of deep technical content on LLM research and robotics.

Talks will be in English or Mandarin with live translation provided for both languages.
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800
Attendees
2
Days
50/50
China / International
1st
AI Engineer in China
About the conference
Where research meets
production

China is at the frontier of AI — DeepSeek, Qwen, Unitree, and the world’s largest autonomous vehicle fleet. AI Engineer Shanghai brings this ecosystem together with the global research community on November 5–6, 2026.

Live demos, candid conversations about what’s actually working, and the cross-border connections that only happen when you put these communities in the same room.

Not a trade show. The people pushing the state of the art, sharing hard-earned lessons and building relationships across the most important axis in AI.

From past AI Engineer flagship events

01 / 12

Featuring speakers & sponsors from

z.ai
Alibaba
MiniMax
RadixArk
Ollama
OpenAI
MetaMeta
CursorCursor
Conference tracks
Open Models &
Physical AI
A

Track A — Open Source Models & AI Infra

The main track and main-stage story. Covers open models, inference engines, local deployment, platform APIs, evals, tooling, and production reliability.

Open modelsInference enginesLocal deploymentPlatform APIsEvals & toolingProduction reliability
B

Track B — Physical AI

The second engineering frontier. Covers VLA / robot foundation models, robot data, simulation and Sim2Real, robot inference, deployment, safety, and real demos. Connects back to Track A: what changes when inference, evals, and deployment move from software into the physical world?

VLA / robot foundation modelsRobot data & simulationSim2Real transferRobot inferenceDeployment & safetyLive demos
Schedule
Conference
schedule
Main Stage
8:30 AM–9:30 AMRegistration & Coffee
9:30 AM–9:45 AMOpening: Why AI Engineer, Why Shanghai
9:45 AM–10:10 AMThe State of AI Engineering 2026
10:10 AM–10:35 AMRebuilding the Stack for AI
10:35 AM–11:00 AMInside the OpenAI Platform
11:00 AM–11:20 AMBreak
11:20 AM–11:45 AMChina’s Open-source Model Moment
11:45 AM–12:15 PMFireside: China’s Path to AGI
12:15 PM–1:30 PMLunch & Hallway Track
Track A — Main Stage
1:30 PM–1:55 PMLocal AI is Eating the Cloud
1:55 PM–2:20 PMSGLang: Reducing Inference Cost
2:20 PM–2:45 PMBuilding Product Moats Across Open and Closed Models
2:45 PM–3:05 PMBreak
3:05 PM–3:30 PMEvals Are All You Need
3:30 PM–4:10 PMPanel: Open vs Closed at the Infra Layer
4:10 PM–5:00 PMLightning Demos: 6 × 7 minutes
Track B — Track Room
1:30 PM–2:00 PMPhysical AI Keynote
2:00 PM–2:30 PMVLA / Robot Foundation Models
2:30 PM–3:00 PMSimulation, Data, and Sim2Real
3:00 PM–3:20 PMBreak
3:20 PM–4:10 PMPanel: What AI Infra Do Robots Need?
4:10 PM–5:00 PMPhysical AI Demo Hour
Evening
5:00 PM–5:30 PMDay 1 wrap-up and Day 2 preview
6:00 PM–8:30 PMSpeaker dinner + networking reception
Call for Speakers — Opening Soon
Speakers
The researchers and engineers
shaping the conversation

Speaker applications and invitations will open shortly. Sign up for updates to be notified when submissions go live.

AI Engineer Shanghai brings together researchers and engineers from China’s leading AI labs and top international groups for two days of deep technical talks. We’re looking for speakers who can share hard-earned lessons on LLM research, robotics, and multi-agent systems.

We invite you to submit your abstract and speaker information. You are highly encouraged to:

Key Dates for Speakers
July 13First Draft Submission Deadline
Mid JulyFirst Wave Speaker Announcements
August 30ALL Submissions Deadline
September 2Final Wave Announcements

All submissions are reviewed using the same criteria; deadlines only affect review timing and announcement date.

Talk Lengths
Workshops
1–2 hours • Hands-on sessions or technical deep dives
Stage Talk
15–20 mins • Keynotes, live demos, paper presentations
Lightning Talk
5–10 mins • Launches, hot takes, fun rants

During your session, dive right into the content with minimal self-introduction — the MC will introduce you. Your talk will be professionally recorded and published on our YouTube, X, and LinkedIn.

We invite you to submit your abstract and speaker information. You are highly encouraged to:

  • Pick non-boring titles (you CAN change your mind later) and look at the best talks from past AIE confs and peer conferences. Your chances are ~epsilon if you simply resubmit talks that look at home at generic AI conferences.
  • Multiple submissions are welcome and not held against you — you don’t need to guess at what we want. We just need to know the rough direction of 1–5 topics you could speak about.
Get notified when submissions open →
Venue
Shangri-La
Qiantan

Shangri-La Qiantan, Shanghai is a luxury 5-star hotel in the vibrant New Bund (Qiantan) International Business District. Set on the banks of the Huangpu River, the New Bund International Business District, dubbed the “Golden Boot,” is poised to become a new Shanghai hot spot. You will find everything expected from a modern urban setting, with first-class office buildings and luxury shopping centers to leafy riverside parks where you can escape from it all. Local Shanghainese culture and natural green elements have been cleverly woven into the hotel’s design to create a unique, reviving sensory experience.

View venue →
Shangri-La Qiantan, Shanghai
Sponsors
Partner
with us

AI Engineer Shanghai puts your brand in front of 800 AI researchers and engineers — half from China’s top labs, half international. Limited sponsorship packages available.

Sponsorship inquiry →
Visa information
Entry requirements for
China

US Passport Holders

US citizens are not on China’s 30-day visa-free list, but there are two good options depending on your travel route:

Option A: 240-hour visa-free transit

If you’re coming via ICML in Seoul (or any third country), you qualify for China’s 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit. Just book an onward flight out of China (e.g. Shanghai → US or Shanghai → anywhere) and you’ll be stamped in at the border — no advance visa application needed.

Covers Shanghai and 23 other provinces. Valid passport + onward ticket to a third country required. No fee.

Option B: Chinese visa (direct from US)

Flying directly from the US to Shanghai and back? You’ll need a Chinese visa (L-type for tourism or M-type for business). Apply at your nearest Chinese embassy or consulate, or use the COVA online system. Processing takes 4–7 business days; fee is ~$185 for US citizens. COVA

Pro tip: structure your trip with a stop in another country (e.g. Japan, Korea, or Hong Kong) to use the free 240-hour transit option instead.

Most of European Countries, Canada, UK, Australia, Japan & South Korea

30-day visa-free

Citizens of 35 European countries (France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, UK, Switzerland, and more) enjoy 30-day visa-free entry to China until December 31, 2026. No advance visa application needed. Just arrive with a valid passport.

Covers tourism, business, and transit. Full list includes all major EU/EEA countries plus the UK, Switzerland, and Norway.

All other Nationalities (e.g., India, South Africa, Mexico)

Visa Required

Fill out the Visa Letter Request Form here after booking your ticket, and take the generated document to your local consulate to apply for your China entry visa.

Visa policies can change quickly. Regardless of your nationality, please confirm your specific requirements, local consulate locations, and the most up-to-date documentation checklists via the official Chinese Visa Application Service Center Portal (www.visaforchina.cn).

Watch

Previous AI Engineer livestreams

AI Engineer Europe 2026

A recent global AI Engineer livestream while Shanghai-specific programming is finalized.

AI Engineer World's Fair 2024

A prior flagship recording from the AI Engineer channel.