Shanghai's new AI institute showcases first-year breakthroughs

A solar forecasting system that outperforms major global models; a glasses-free 3D display that offers a seamless view from any angle; robot companions designed to understand human emotion...

These were among the projects on display on Saturday at the open day of the Shanghai Innovation Institute (SII), a year-old talent hub established to train the next generation of AI leaders. The event showcased the practical, high-impact work being pursued by its students and faculty.

The institution, opened in September 2024, runs an around-year enrollment model, blending competitions, training camps, and hands-on projects to identify and cultivate future research and technology leaders.

Ding Xiaodong, Party Secretary and executive vice president of SII, said the initiative is designed to "discover courage and engineering capabilities through solving real-world problems."

The model primarily targets senior undergraduates, first-year master's students, and doctoral candidates.

The institute partners with top universities, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Zhejiang University, and the University of Science and Technology of China.

It has selected nearly 800 doctoral students and candidates across 45 disciplines and fields, including about 260 admitted for the 2026 academic year.

"Talent alone is not enough," Ding said, noting that the institution has declined many applicants.

The ideal candidate, he explained, is someone with "ambition, courage, vision, potential, and an instinctive understanding of risk."

Faculty member Feng Kairui, who previously studied at the Princeton University, admitted he was initially skeptical.

"I didn't believe the institute's ideas about risk-taking and fast iteration," he said. His view changed after participating in a 72-hour student challenge where participants had to solve problems using AI models.

"I found myself working alongside students until 4am. The energy was contagious."

Feng leads a team developing a solar power forecasting system with partner NVIDIA.

"We can now predict solar output seven days in advance at a 10-minute resolution for over 2,000 sites in China," Feng said.

The relative error is less than half of the US Global Forecast System. The team has open-sourced its work and is developing a complementary AI-powered grid management system.

Another standout project came from doctoral student Ma Weijie. His research tackles a decades-old problem in glasses-free 3D displays: the trade-off between screen size and viewing angle.

"We proposed an intuitive idea: actively direct limited optical resources to where they are most needed, like an 'optical spotlight'," Ma explained.

His prototype allows viewers to walk around a desktop-sized screen and see a consistent, three-dimensional image from every angle. The work has been accepted for publication in Nature.

Doctoral student Ye Yuxiang presented his startup, Onceness, which is developing AI-powered companion robots.

"Current products are 'pseudo-companions' stuck in a command-response mode," Ye said.

His team's robot uses a multi-modal system to perceive human tone, expression, and touch. It is designed to predict intent and initiate interaction, aiming for deeper emotional connection.

The team, mostly born after 2000, has already developed a functional dragon robot prototype for the institute in just five months.

In its first year, the institute has focused on creating a supportive environment for this kind of ambitious work.

"Teachers and students are comrades-in-arms. We write code, tighten screws, and eat supper together," said full time mentor Yin Zhen of the institute. His lab has launched three startups in the past year.

The open day concluded with awards for student projects, recognizing technical achievement, creativity, and potential market value.

For Feng, the institute's value lies in its calculated tolerance for failure.

"The outcome of a failed project here might just be six months wasted," he said. "I can afford that. This allows us to finally aim for a thoroughly victory."