China’s artificial intelligence sector is ramping up efforts to reduce its reliance on foreign technology, launching two major industry alliances during the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, which concluded on Monday.

The first, named the Model-Chip Ecosystem Innovation Alliance, brings together developers of large language models and AI chipmakers, including Huawei, Biren, Moore Threads, and Enflame—all firms impacted by U.S. sanctions. According to Zhao Lidong, CEO of Enflame, the alliance seeks to build a complete innovation chain from chip design to AI model deployment. The initiative was spearheaded by StepFun, an emerging LLM developer.

A second alliance, the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce AI Committee, aims to accelerate the integration of AI into traditional industries. Members include SenseTime, StepFun, MiniMax, Metax, and Iluvatar CoreX—all pushing new frontiers in AI under the constraints of U.S. tech restrictions.

The WAIC conference also saw a wave of new product announcements. Huawei’s CloudMatrix 384 system, featuring 384 of its latest Ascend 910C chips, drew significant attention. Research from U.S.-based SemiAnalysis suggests the system outperforms Nvidia’s top-tier GB200 NVL72 in key areas, thanks to Huawei’s ability to compensate for individual chip limitations with advanced system-level engineering.

Other exhibitors unveiled similar technologies. Metax showcased an AI supernode with 128 C550 chips for data center applications, while Tencent launched its open-source Hunyuan3D World Model 1.0 for generating 3D environments from text or image prompts.

Baidu revealed its next-generation “digital human” livestreamers, capable of mimicking real human behavior using just 10 minutes of footage. Meanwhile, Alibaba introduced Quark AI Glasses, powered by its Qwen model, to be released in China by end of 2025, offering navigation and Alipay integration via voice and vision.