The 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC 2026) and the High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance officially opened in Shanghai today, featuring a four-day event with 4,489 exhibits, including 349 global and Chinese debuts. Highlights include 108 specialized chips, over 300 advanced robots, and 261 large language models. Yin Qi, chairman of Shanghai-based AI firm StepFun, predicted at the WAIC Main Forum that model capabilities will cross a "critical threshold" by the end of this year, bringing the industry closer to artificial general intelligence (AGI). StepFun hosted the global debut of its STEPX Neo, heralded as the world's first native AI smartphone. Kai-Fu Lee, founder of 01.AI, urged the industry to pivot toward high-stakes AI application, questioning the current consumer-centric focus. Lenovo Vice President Chen Minyi declared the ongoing FIFA 2026 tournament as the first true "AI World Cup," noting Lenovo's FIFA AI Pro agent can access millions of real-time data points and analyze over 2,000 football match metrics, compressing post-match analysis into less than two hours. Chen also revealed that Lenovo's referee-perspective AI video enhancement system has been officially adopted this year to assist with live broadcasts and clarify officiating decisions.