WIC Wuzhen Summit to unveil new vision for open source, openness

The 2026 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit will be held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, from Nov 2 to 5, under the theme "Open Source and Openness, Collaborative Development and Shared Benefits — Jointly Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace".

Since early 2025, a growing number of open-source large AI models have emerged, offering advantages such as lower costs and greater efficiency. These developments have significantly lowered the barriers to AI adoption and promoted broader access to and the sharing of AI technologies.

As more large AI models become open source, there is growing recognition that open source and openness are important pathways toward inclusive AI development, Ren Xianliang, secretary-general of the World Internet Conference, said, adding that they also offer a key option of sharing the benefits of AI and fostering common development.

"We need to pool global wisdom with a more open mindset, enabling more countries, enterprises, and developers to participate in innovation and share its outcomes, so that AI can better empower all sectors of the economy and benefit humanity," Ren said.

This year's summit features an opening ceremony, a main forum, and 27 sub-forums covering a range of topics, including cyberspace cooperation under the Global Governance Initiative, robotics and embodied intelligence, spatiotemporal intelligence, and green, low-carbon development enabled by digital and intelligent technologies.

Following last year's high-profile "Six Little Dragons Wuzhen Dialogue", this year's main forum will feature an "AI Wuzhen Dialogue". The session will bring together leaders of prominent global technology companies, leading open-source large language model enterprises, and AI scientists to exchange views on issues such as building a global open-source AI ecosystem.

As a signature event of the WIC Wuzhen Summit, this year's Light of Internet Expo will bring together more than 670 enterprises from 54 countries and regions, including Intel, Schneider Electric, Kaspersky, Qualcomm, Microsoft, SAP, Alibaba, Huawei, and Tencent.

The expo will showcase more than 1,000 technological achievements, with over 20 products making their debut at the event. For the first time, it will feature a dedicated exhibition area for cutting-edge innovations in 6G, satellite internet, quantum communication, and ultra-wideband technology.

The Global Internet Competition of "Straight to Wuzhen", which became part of the summit's official program in 2019, is another highlight of the event.

This year's competition will feature five main tracks: digital and intelligent healthcare, smart mobility, intelligent terminals, smart manufacturing, and new consumption. The finals across all tracks will take place in Tongxiang on Nov 3, with the award ceremony scheduled for Nov 5 in Wuzhen.

The Global Youth Leadership Program, which enters its fourth edition in 2026, attracted more than 2,600 candidates from over 140 countries and regions. Following evaluation by a panel of international experts, 20 young talents have been selected to participate in this year's summit. They will share their experiences and insights on advancing digital innovation at the Youth and Digital Future Forum.

The 2026 Wuzhen Summit is hosted by the World Internet Conference and organized by the People's Government of Zhejiang Province. First held in 2014, the summit brings together government officials, representatives of international organizations, technology executives, and researchers to discuss internet development and governance.