The grand finals of the 2nd Global AI Product & Application Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition kicked off in Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) on Dec. 9. Fifty outstanding projects selected from a global pool participated in the final round of competition which was one of the important sideline activities of the 2024 Global AI Product & Application Expo.
At present, SIP is stepping up efforts to promote the innovation and application of AI technology to empower local industries. It has made remarkable achievements in supporting Suzhou to build the National New Generation Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Development Pilot Zone, with 119 application scenarios having been selected and released.
The Global AI Product & Application Expo has been successfully held for 5 sessions since 2018. As one of the four major AI-themed expos in the country, it serves as an important innovation platform and incubator as well as a window showcasing the achievements Suzhou has made in building the National New Generation Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Development Pilot Zone. As a brand event of the Global AI Product & Application Expo, this year’s Global AI Product & Application Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition has received great support from venture capital institutions who made investment deals involving up to 100 million yuan. More than 200 teams with innovative AI products and applications designed for such sectors as manufacturing, medical care and financial service from around the world registered for the competition and after 3 roadshows held in Seoul in South Korea and Beijing and Xi’an in China, 50 projects were shortlisted for the grand finals.
Suzhou Industrial Park is among the first high-tech parks in the country which have issued special policies to encourage the development of the artificial intelligence industry. With the support of a robust real economy and first-class business environment, SIP has, in recent years, strived to secure more breakthroughs in core AI technologies and ensure more efficient application of advances. It has gathered more than 1,800 AI-related enterprises, including 20 listed enterprises, with the total industrial output value exceeding 100 billion yuan for the first time last year. In SIP, there are 25 national-level talents and 12 national scientific research institutes. The park has taken on the new role as the core area for Suzhou to build the National New Generation Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Development Pilot Zone. It has been making all-out efforts to make new achievements in key areas such as the incubation of enterprises, the construction of industrial platforms, the development of core technologies, the implementation of favorable policies, and the application of large AI models. In the next step, SIP will further boost AI development, create a better business environment and innovation ecology, and build a highland for AI and digital industries, so as to accelerate the cultivation and development of new quality productive forces.
