On May 19, the AI-Empowered New Industrialization Seminar and 22^nd Tiankai Innovation Salon was held at the Tiankai Higher Education Innovation Park. Zhai Lixin, Vice-Mayor of Tianjin Municipal People’s Government, and Chen Yulu, President of Nankai University (NKU), attended the event and delivered speeches. The seminar featured keynote participation by Gong Ke, Chief Expert of NKU Institute of Chinese Path to Modernization, Executive Director of the Chinese Institute of New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Strategies, and Director of the Xinchuang Haihe Laboratory; Yao Jianquan, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Honorary Dean of the School of Precision Instrument and Opto-electronics Engineering, Tianjin University, and Director of the Laser and Opto-electronics Research Institute; Ji Zhengkun, former Director and Party Secretary of the CPC National Standardization Administration Committee, and Member of the National Manufacturing Strategy Advisory Committee; and Li Shipeng, Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, IEEE Fellow, and Chair Scientist of the International Digital Economy Academy. NKU Vice President Fang Yongchun presided over the opening ceremony. More than 380 representatives from higher education institutions, research institutes, think tanks, and enterprises attended the event. 

Vice-Mayor Zhai emphasized that acceleration of new industrialization represents a major strategic deployment by the CPC Central Committee led by General Secretary Xi Jinping. This initiative aligns with China’s strategic landscape of national rejuvenation amid profound global transformations unseen in a century, with the Chinese path to modernization as the cornerstone for building a strong nation and achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The CPC Tianjin Municipal Committee and Tianjin Municipal People’s Government, he noted, attach strategic importance to AI-empowered new industrialization, intensify efforts in advancing intelligent manufacturing, and make forward-looking plans to strengthen digital infrastructure construction. With the launch of an action plan for promoting innovative AI development recently, Tianjin Municipal People’s Government has vigorously implemented the “AI+” initiative to cultivate future-oriented sectors such as “AI + Information Technology Application Innovation”, embodied intelligence, and low-altitude economy, while establishing a national innovation hub for foundational AI technology and a leading demonstration zone for AI-enabled applications.

NKU President Chen Yulu identified AI as a pivotal driver of the ongoing scientific and industrial revolution. He noted that the Party and the government have positioned AI and other cutting-edge technologies as the central engine for advancing new industrialization, with a series of major strategic initiatives underway to deepen AI-manufacturing integration. Rooted in Tianjin’s development needs, NKU has adopted a demand-driven, interdisciplinary approach to empower new industrialization through AI. These efforts have enabled NKU to achieve notable progress in accelerating deep disciplinary convergence and promoting integrated advancement of talent cultivation, research commercialization, and policy advisory services. Looking ahead, Chen stressed NKU’s commitment to thoroughly implementing the guidelines in General Secretary Xi Jinping’s addresses during his inspection tours of Tianjin and NKU, while addressing critical challenges and pressing needs in the new industrialization process, systematically strengthening disciplinary planning and research initiatives, advancing the co-establishment of the next-generation AI innovation hubs and industrial ecosystems, and collaboratively shaping a new landscape for new industrialization and Chinese modernization.

During the event, the Industrial Intelligentization Information Technology Application Innovation Platform, which was jointly developed by the Xinchuang Haihe Laboratory, NKU, Next Generation Industrial Intelligence Technology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd., and Fitow (Tianjin) Detection Technology Co., Ltd. Positioned as a hardware-software technology module supply and service platform for the development of industrial AI information technology application innovation system, the platform incorporates LLMs into its architecture to develop Tianjin’s first industrial vertical-domain LLM built on information technology application innovation, while providing technical support tailored to the needs of industrial AI application. 

The invited keynote session, chaired by Gong Ke, featured keynote presentations from four distinguished experts: Yao Jianquan, Ji Zhengkun, Li Shipeng, and Tu Changhe (Professor at the School of Computer Science and Technology, Shandong University and Deputy Director of the CCF Technical Committee on Intelligent Robot). 

The roundtable discussion, themed “Prospects for Deep Application of LLMs in Industrial Sectors”, was moderated by Liu Gang, Chief Economist of the Chinese Institute of New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Strategies and Director of Nankai Institute of Economics. This session featured in-depth dialogue with distinguished panelists: Zang Jiyuan, Deputy Director of the Manufacturing Research Office of the Center for Strategic Studies, Chinese Academy of Engineering, Zhao Yubo, Executive Dean of Shandong Institutes of Industrial Technology, Yuan Huihui, General Manager of Tianjin Zhipu Huazhang Technology Co., Ltd., and Cao Bin, Chairman of Fitow (Tianjin) Detection Technology Co., Ltd.

During thematic discussions, participants engaged in robust exchanges on critical topics such as “The Essential Difference Between Industrial AI and General AI”, “ The Four-Dimensional Challenges of Industrial AI”, and “Pathways and Practices for AI-Enabled New Industrialization in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region”. 

（Edited and translated by Nankai News Team.)