After eight years of development, the China Shanghai Youth AI Innovation Competition, under the guidance of the Communist Youth League Committee of Shanghai, the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, Shanghai Municipal Commission of Education, and Lin-gang Special Area Administration of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, has become an important platform for AI education for teenagers.

This year's competition added a university group event, the "AI + Application Entrepreneurship Practice" track and the 1st Shanghai YanYuan Dishui Lake Collegiate AI+International Startup Challenge, focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship. Relying on the INNO-YES SynNovator exclusive AI entrepreneurship community platform, it covered "6+X" tracks including AI + social interaction, education, culture and tourism, home, city, and trade. It attracted more than 200 teams and over 700 people from home and abroad to sign up. Eventually, more than 50 outstanding teams showcased their practical products and business plans. Not only did it successfully select a batch of AI innovation seed projects with "product implementation capabilities", but it also cultivated a group of AI native makers facing future technology and application demands.

At the award ceremony, Fu Zhangjie, Deputy Director of The Division of High-tech Industries and Science and Technology Innovation, LSAA, and Shen Zhen, General Manager of China Telecom Corporation Limited Shanghai Lingang New Area Branch, presented awards to the top ten projects of the "AI+Application Entrepreneurship Practice" track and The 1st Shanghai YanYuan Dishui Lake Collegiate AI+International Startup Challenge.

The launch ceremony of the INNO-YES SynNovator Global AI Era Youth Leadership Program was held. At the ceremony, Wang Yu, Executive Director of PKU-IICSH and founding partner of Yanyuan Fund & INNO-YES Incubator, introduced the leadership program. He stated that the program was initiated by PKU-IICSH, with Shanghai Guotou Empowerment Company, INNO-YES Incubator & Yanyuan Fund as ecological partners. It was jointly promoted by the People's Government of Nanhui New Town, relevant departments of Lin-gang Special Area Administration, the Youth Daily, Lingang Science and Technology City, INNO-YES Sci-Tech Review, Shanghai Telecom,OneSyn, Huawei Computing Product Line, Alibaba Cloud, and many other partner units. The goal is to continuously build the INNO-YES SynNovator International Youth AI Community by 2026 and create an integrated youth AI + entrepreneurship cultivation system covering "competition, training, incubation, exhibition, investment, and employment".

The competition has stimulated the innovative thinking and entrepreneurial enthusiasm of participating college students and promoted the application of AI technology in multiple fields. These innovative projects not only demonstrate the students' solid technical foundation but also highlight their awareness of combining AI with social needs. The China Shanghai Youth AI Competition has continuously evolved and has formed a new type of science and technology education ecosystem that combines school and society and promotes mutual growth through teaching and learning.

The science and technology carnival, which was held simultaneously with the award ceremony, became a bridge for innovative projects to communicate with the public. The carnival was divided into an innovation and entrepreneurship exhibition area, an outstanding works exhibition area, and an interactive experience area. Among them, the innovation and entrepreneurship exhibition area was the display of the top ten teams of the university group and the 1st Shanghai YanYuan Dishui Lake Collegiate AI+International Startup Challenge.

The participating teams set up booths and transformed into "technology recommenders", presenting their high-quality projects to the audience through videos, interactive demonstrations, and other forms in a vivid manner. This is also the first time that the competition has set up a carnival section, attracting many spectators to stop and experience it.

"Our project is called 'Ears', focusing on AI sound creation. Users can create their own sounds, and creators can communicate, exchange and share," said Chen Mengxi and Qin Yutong, members of the Ears team from Shanghai Maritime University. The Vibrant Motion team from Shanghai University of Electric Power brought a wavelength sensor that can assist in human fitness exercises. "Our AI model can monitor the exercise state in real time. For example, if the squatting posture is incorrect, there will be real-time reminders. Running and rope skipping can also be trained into models and shared with others," said member Hu Yantao, opening the corresponding video at the booth to demonstrate the function of the wavelength sensor in real time.

As a brand event of the World AI Conference, this year's competition adheres to the concept of "promoting learning through competition and promoting application through learning", presenting new features in event design.

It is worth noting that a number of practical works have stood out: some teams have applied AI technology to the field of new energy vehicles, while some students have designed intelligent service systems for the elderly, demonstrating a keen insight into social needs.

At the university group event, the first prize winners of the "AI+Application Entrepreneurship Practice" track and the 1st Shanghai YanYuan Dishui Lake Collegiate AI+International Startup Challenge shared on the spot.

Over the past eight years, the Youth AI Innovation Competition has become an important platform for cultivating AI reserve talents. Since its launch in April 2025, this year's competition has been held in multiple districts of the city for selection. It not only tests the technical ability of the contestants but also emphasizes innovative thinking and social concern. Many schools have promoted the in-depth development of AI education through participation in the competition.

Sun Xiaohe, deputy secretary of the Party Committee and mayor of Nanhui New Town, said, "The focused eyes of teenagers exploring science and technology are the most solid confidence for our country to achieve high-level independent innovation in science and technology."

Xu Hao, deputy secretary of the Communist Youth League Shanghai Municipal Committee (right), and Miao Ting, member of the Party Working Committee of Lin-gang Special Area, deputy director of Lin-gang Special Area Administration, and secretary of the Party Committee of Nanhui New Town (left), launched the 9th China · Shanghai Youth AI Innovation Competition and National Invitational Competition.

Lingang will continue to support the development of the competition, fully creating a more dynamic innovation ecosystem, and welcoming the 9th China · Shanghai Youth AI Innovation Competition. INNO-YES SynNovator will also become the starting point for young entrepreneurs to realize their dreams in the AI era, continuously injecting youthful energy into Shanghai's efforts to build a globally influential science and technology innovation center.