Global AI experts explore governance, innovation, applications at Budapest summit

BUDAPEST, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Policymakers, researchers and industry leaders gathered at AI Summit Budapest 2026 on Monday and Tuesday to discuss artificial intelligence (AI) development, governance and applications as the technology rapidly reshapes economies and societies.

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The two-day summit brought together more than 300 speakers for discussions ranging from frontier AI models and digital infrastructure to governance and practical applications.

Opening the summit, Hungary's Minister for Innovation and Technology Zoltan Tanacs described AI as a technology that lies "between two extremes" -- "salvation or total catastrophe." He said governments should embrace innovation while putting appropriate safeguards in place as AI capabilities advance.

As part of its AI strategy, Hungary plans to invest 500 million euros (581.2 U.S. dollars) in AI development programs over the coming years and join the European AI Gigafactory initiative, which aims to strengthen Europe's AI computing infrastructure.

Tanacs said Hungary also plans to expand AI education and university research, attract leading AI developers and improve AI literacy among businesses and the public.

Addressing participants via video, Jin Xiaoming, president of the China Association for International Science and Technology Cooperation, warned that unequal access to AI technology and governance could widen what he called the "innovation divide."

"The gap between frontier AI creators and mere consumers keeps widening," Jin said, warning against "rules imposed by the few upon the many" and calling for AI governance based on shared responsibility, adaptive safeguards and human-centered development.

The summit also explored the growing use of AI in business and industry.

Presenting Alibaba Cloud's latest AI developments, Huang Ye, general manager of Solution and Products at Alibaba Cloud Central Europe, said AI is evolving from simply understanding users' requests to completing increasingly complex tasks and end-to-end workflows.

Huang highlighted advances in model capabilities, human-AI collaboration and multimodal AI, as well as the growing role of open-source development. He said Alibaba Cloud has open-sourced more than 400 AI models, with more derivative models based on Qwen being used in areas such as education, healthcare and manufacturing.

Huang said Alibaba Cloud was already using AI to improve customer service and assist engineers with coding and product demonstrations.

While opinions differed on how AI should develop and how it should be regulated, participants broadly agreed that closer international cooperation and wider access to AI technologies will be essential to ensuring that the technology benefits society.

The fourth edition of the summit was held across three venues with 15 parallel tracks, bringing together nearly 4,000 attendees.