Wooing developers

After a successful entrepreneurial career in Shanghai, Wang Zhe decided to become a developer focusing on the AI industry.

"Shanghai gave me the stage for my first startup, and also gave me the speed to start a new venture," Wang, founder of Sitesfy AI, said during the main forum of the summit, an AI event for global developers to communicate, collaborate and innovate.

Referring to the technology company he co-founded with friends in 2015, Wang said, "It is Shanghai's open market, high-quality talent and receptiveness to new ideas that enable us to serve the world's top brands here."

Before starting the company, Wang worked at an accounting firm in New York for five years after graduating from Columbia University in the City of New York 15 years ago.

He said his familiarity with Shanghai was one of the primary reasons he chose the city to start a new company. "More importantly, our team deeply believes that the city offers an environment that allows us to perform better than in any other place," he said.

In less than six months of beginning operations, the company's team of fewer than five people had served hundreds of companies across dozens of countries.

"Our monthly revenue is approaching 1 million yuan and continues to grow rapidly," Wang said.

He added that this is not solely due to their team's exceptional talent, but mainly the decision to develop the company along with the development of the AI industry in Shanghai."I believe that in the future, more and more teams like ours will emerge from here, using AI to create global value. I hope the seed of connection I planted in Shanghai will reach the world," he said.

Luo Zheng, co-founder of Jike App and head of the podcast platform Xiaoyuzhou (Cosmos), said his success over the past decade can be attributed in large part to Shanghai.

"Shanghai's charm lies in its inclusiveness and diversity, which provide an ideal environment for content communities such as Jike and Cosmos. It is the best place for us to explore AI applications," he said.

Luo's companies have focused on using technology to make cultural innovations.

Jike is one of China's top AI topic discussion communities, with more than 60 million registered users. Cosmos provides a platform for young people to express and discuss their emotions, and has become the preferred choice for 95 percent of podcast content creators, according to Luo.