Signify to Leverage China's AI Innovation Ecosystem

Signify, a global lighting company, said it is ready to lead the shift to ubiquitous AI and use its industry expertise.

A new white paper on how generative AI is changing the lighting industry was released at the Shanghai Artificial and Lighting Innovation Summit last week ahead of International Day of Light on May 16.

Signify has led the industry's technological advancement, drawing on Philips Lighting's 135 years of technical expertise. The white paper analyzes industry development patterns and commits the company to technological innovation to transform the industry.

"We plan to fully leverage China's vibrant AI innovation ecosystem and vast application market to continue increasing our investment in local R&D. We would join hands with partners to create smarter, healthier, and more sustainable lighting environments for users," Signify China CEO Karl Yin said.

The white paper examines how generative AI agents are changing the technological foundations, application paradigms, and industrial logic of smart lighting, providing clear strategic guidance for the lighting industry as it enters the ubiquitous AI era.

It proposes "Harness Engineering," a six-layer system that turns unpredictable outcomes from large language models into dependable, compliant, and traceable actions tailored for the industry.

Signify's Interact City Flex connected road lighting system is the industry's first solution integrating generative artificial intelligence, which is locally designed for complex urban environments.

Last year, it went into operation in Dalian's High-Tech Industrial Zone.

Signify has developed proprietary models for the lighting industry that are closely tailored to the core requirements of scenarios such as indoor offices and outdoor street lighting.

These models enable a precise understanding of spatial characteristics, equipment operating patterns, and user needs, provide stable and reliable support for intelligent decision-making, and ensure that intelligent systems operate efficiently and reliably in complex environments.

AI continues to be a key driver for reshaping its internal business processes and accelerating time-to-market to better adapt to the market shift brought by technology advancements, he noted.

Recent years have significantly lowered the threshold for adopting AI, making it more accessible at both the enterprise and individual levels. "We're dedicated to establishing secure and structured development standards along with industry partners," Yin told Shanghai Daily.

"We're confident that through our 135-year-long profound understanding of the lighting industry and people's needs, with our deeply rooted innovation DNA, combined with an open embrace of cutting-edge technology, we'll maintain an industry-leading position in the age of AI and continue exploring further AI-enabled lighting scenarios."