AI innovation set to reach commercialization faster

Artificial intelligence is advancing at an unprecedented pace, reshaping a wide range of sectors — including advanced manufacturing, robotics, industrial design, materials discovery and healthcare.

This momentum was the central theme of a sub-forum on AI-driven innovation and entrepreneurship held at Renmin University of China, part of the university's 2026 Tongzhou Global Development Forum.

Wen Jirong, executive dean of RUC's Gaoling School of Artificial Intelligence, said the speed of AI progress has repeatedly outpaced even insiders' expectations, especially since ChatGPT's arrival more than three years ago. "The best way to face the future is to build it," Wen said, explaining why this year's forum shifted its focus toward entrepreneurship and technology commercialization. He noted that the school had accumulated significant technical capabilities, and that faculty and students were now actively turning research into ventures.

In a roundtable discussion, Wen Yanbin, managing director at Legend Capital, said AI investing has moved beyond the linear forecasting used in traditional sectors toward backing breakthroughs that are hard to predict.

Wang Sheng, partner at Innotech Fund, added, "Today's tech-driven innovation is much more a contest against natural science than a guessing game about consumer behavior, making the path for technical verification somewhat clearer."

Concrete evidence of AI's spread into business operations came from seven startup projects showcased at the event, covering embodied intelligence, AI-powered drug and materials discovery, industrial scientific computing, and search infrastructure for AI agents.

Wang Yubo contributed to the story.