On March 7, the 2024 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) kickoff meeting was held in Shanghai. It was officially announced at the meeting that this global event in the field of artificial intelligence will be held again in Shanghai from July 4th to 6th. The conference will continue to be a gathering place for global AI ideas, promote the connection of global technological innovation ecosystems, explore new development opportunities for artificial intelligence, deepen global digital governance and exchange cooperation, and strive to transform the achievements of the conference into practical benefits, further amplifying the positive impact of the conference on the AI industry. Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization AI Development Department Director Wang Zhijia stated at the kickoff meeting that artificial intelligence is currently changing the world at an astonishing speed. Cutting-edge areas represented by large models, large computing power, and big data are leading the development direction of AI, giving rise to new human-machine interaction models such as AI Agents, bringing unprecedented opportunities to various industries. As an important platform in the international AI field, the World Artificial Intelligence Conference not only showcases the latest developments in global AI, but also serves as an important window for interdisciplinary exchanges. "We look forward to this conference becoming a powerful engine for promoting AI innovation and development." In recent years, Shanghai has been making continuous efforts in the field of artificial intelligence, actively implementing the "Shanghai Plan". With its unique advantages as a mega-city, Shanghai gathers global innovation resources with a more open attitude, better services, and stronger efforts, attracting outstanding talents and companies from both domestic and international markets. Wang Zhijia said, "In the future, we will continue to increase investment and support in the field of artificial intelligence, focus on the continuous development of the industrial ecosystem and the entire industry chain, strive to create a high-quality innovation environment, attract more outstanding talents and companies to develop in Shanghai, support companies in achieving breakthroughs in underlying technologies, increase innovation in industrial applications, promote commercialization, and jointly promote the breakthrough and application of AI technology." The World Artificial Intelligence Conference is committed to building an open and inclusive world-class general AI development and innovation ecosystem platform. In order to deepen innovation and technology cooperation and expand cooperation areas, the conference also held the signing ceremony of the WAIC Global Strategic Cooperation Plan. The first batch of signing units includes Alibaba Group, Donghao Lansheng Group Co., Ltd., IEEE, Ant Group, SenseTime, Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Investment Management Co., Ltd., Shanghai AI Laboratory, and the Center for Exhibition and Transformation of Achievements of Chinese Academy of Engineering academicians and experts, as well as many other well-known companies and institutions. This series of collaborations will inject new vitality into the development of the AI field and promote the rapid development of the global AI industry.