Global voices gather in Shanghai as Inclusion Conference opens

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The banks of the Huangpu River once again became a crossroads of ideas on Sept 11 as the 2025 Inclusion Conference on the Bund opened in Shanghai. The annual gathering, now in its fourth year, has become one of Asia's premier fintech and technology events, and this year it brought together 550 guests from 16 countries and regions.

Richard Sutton, the 2024 Turing Award laureate and a pioneer of reinforcement learning, addressed the audience via video at the main forum. He argued that the age of human data is nearing its limit and that artificial intelligence is shifting into "The Era of Experience", where continuous learning will unlock potential far beyond earlier breakthroughs.

Wang Jian, founder of Alibaba Cloud and director of Zhejiang Lab, stressed that open-source AI must move beyond merely releasing code to include open resources. He also pointed to space as the next frontier, insisting that AI should not be absent from humanity's journey beyond Earth.

Historian and philosopher Yuval Noah Harari added a humanistic perspective. He cautioned against judging progress solely by the speed of technological change, emphasizing instead the importance of cooperation, trust, and empathy in shaping a sustainable future.

The conference itself reflects that balance between ambition and connection. This year's program includes one main forum, 44 sub-forums, a 10,000-square-meter exhibition, and a 5,000-square-meter innovation market. Nearly 200 companies are presenting their latest advances, with more than 30 new products debuting.

Inclusion Conference has earned a reputation as more than just a fintech summit. Earlier this week, the United States' South by Southwest Conference & Festivals praised it as a vivid expression of the creative link between people and technology, while highlighting the energy of China's younger generation.

Since its launch in 2020, the conference has grown into a high-level platform for dialogue across global finance, technology, and industry. Last year's edition drew 52,000 visitors in person and more than 10 million online.