Wuzhen Summit Observation: Using competition as a “bridge” to connect global innovation

China News Service, Wuzhen, November 6 (Xi Jinyan) On November 5, the 2026 "Direct to Wuzhen" Global Internet Competition Award Ceremony was held in Wuzhen, Zhejiang. The "Direct to Wuzhen" Global Internet Competition is one of the important brand activities of the Wuzhen Summit of the World Internet Conference. Since the competition was held eight years ago, it has attracted a total of 7,932 projects from 52 countries and regions to participate.

This competition collected a total of 1,347 projects from 31 countries and regions around the world, and finally selected 10 special prizes, 10 first prizes, 30 second prizes and 48 third prize projects; more than 1,000 developers participated in the Open Source Competition Challenge, and 13 most valuable contributors were selected.

Steve Hoffman, an American Silicon Valley angel investor and co-chairman of the competition (North America), Peter Sachsun, a professor at Oxford University and an academician of the German National Academy of Sciences and Engineering, Christian Henriksen, chairman of the EU Youth Business Council’s Innovation and Technology Office in China, and other competition judges and overseas project representatives from many countries participated in the event.

Steve Hoffman said that Wuzhen is prosperous by water and connected by bridges in all directions. The competition is building a bridge of innovation that connects the world, bringing together talents and wisdom from all over the world, and empowering a better world with technology.

It is reported that since the competition was launched in 2019, it has brought together 7,932 projects from 52 countries and regions. So far, more than 40% of participating companies have completed a new round of financing after the competition, 22 have grown into unicorn companies, and 5 have successfully gone public.

This year, the competition follows the development trend of cutting-edge technology and launches a "5+2" competition structure. Among them, the five major tracks are digital medical care, intelligent connected travel, intelligent terminals, intelligent manufacturing, and new consumption. Based on industry needs, two major scene competitions, AI+ manufacturing and new mobility, are added. The two major special competitions are the OPC special competition and the open source competition challenge.

Steve Hoffman sent a message to entrepreneurs to boldly try and make mistakes and build openly and collaboratively. In his view, AI is reshaping many fields such as medical care, education, basic scientific research, and manufacturing. Embodied intelligence and humanoid robots will bring huge opportunities to the global manufacturing industry; AI should liberate manpower and allow humans to exert their unique consciousness and creativity.

Hoffman also pointed out that artificial intelligence brings opportunities but also risks, and it is necessary to deepen international cooperation, jointly implement AI governance, and prevent technology abuse. He praised all participating entrepreneurs and believed that daring to participate is a breakthrough worthy of recognition. Finally, he quoted "the sea is open to all rivers, and tolerance is great" to explain the original intention of the competition to be inclusive and open, and to connect global innovation forces.

Mohamed Lehaji Khloufi from France brought the Podspace automated video production platform to this competition. The project has deployed 8 fully self-service smart studios in France, Spain and the United States. Relying on an integrated SaaS system, it can automatically debug lighting, camera, audio, one-click recording, intelligent editing, and quickly produce multiple versions of short video content for release.

Khlufi said that the project will grow rapidly after it goes online in 2023. Compared with the editing tool track, which is crowded with financing, automated shooting and production is still a blue ocean. The project is currently in the seed round, and we hope to raise more funds through this participation, which can be better used for the research and development of the AI ​​director system, studio upgrades, construction of the New York studio center, and team expansion.

Khlufi admitted that he gained a lot from participating in this competition. In his view, the competitiveness of Chinese companies is continuing to increase. They have strong hardware manufacturing capabilities and fast iteration of AI solutions. "We see huge space for cooperation and plan to integrate this type of technology into our studio system, focusing on real-time transcription, automated production, and multi-lingual content distribution scenarios, which can achieve new growth."

From project roadshows to award ceremonies, from global judges to overseas entrepreneurs, this competition once again demonstrated the distinctive features of openness, tolerance, and connectivity. With the competition as a bridge, Wuzhen is gathering more global innovation forces to promote the collision of technology, industry and capital to create new opportunities in exchanges and cooperation.