Visitors communicate with a robot displayed in the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai in October in 2019. Photo: Xinhua

The 2020 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) is expected to release more than 50 heavyweight achievements and innovative products, with over 30 large projects planned to be signed during the meeting, according to Shanghai's municipal government on Monday.

The WAIC 2020 is scheduled to be held in Shanghai between July 9 and 11, using a combination of online and offline delivery methods due to the COVID-19 pandemic, under the theme of "Intelligent Connectivity, Indivisible Community," Shanghai's officials said during a press conference held on Monday.

Over 550 artificial intelligence experts and executives, including Nobel laureates Thomas Sargent and Turing Award winners Manuel Blum, Judea Pearl, and David Patterson will attend the WAIC, according to Shanghai's municipal government. In fact, many attendees plan to join the conference's online summits, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to halt business in many regions.

The attendees will include approximately 150 firms, with Microsoft, Amazon, Alibaba, Tencent, Huawei, and JD.com among others planning to participate in the online exhibition's events. In addition, company executives, including Baidu CEO Li Yanhong, SAP CEO Christian Klein, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot, and Apple's Vice President Isabel GeMahe will attend the event, according to the local municipal government.

Artificial Intelligence — more commonly known as AI — has risen to Shanghai's priority development strategy, with the annual conference proving a suitable platform to push forward the establishment of AI infrastructure and boost AI industrial communication among the world top talents and experts, and is beneficial to attract more foreign companies to the city, Xuan Xiaohua, founder and chairman of UniDT told the Global Times on Monday. UniDT is one of the many  participants attending the event.

Early in September 2019, Shanghai issued a three-year action plan to boost the development of its AI industry and build the city into an AI superpower by 2021. In 2019, Shanghai had 1,100 AI firms with an annual output of more than 130 billion yuan ($18.36 billion), according to Shanghai's authorities.