Hangzhou to host experts from 43 countries for embodied AI standards talks

Nearly 400 experts from 43 countries will meet in Hangzhou's Binjiang district from Oct 13 to 16 for the third plenary meeting of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)'s Focus Group on Embodied Artificial Intelligence, marking its first plenary session in China since its establishment in February.

The group, the ITU's first dedicated standardization body for embodied AI, is chaired by an expert from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology. More than 120 institutions from 39 countries across five continents have participated in its work.

The meeting will review technical specifications and reports through nine working groups covering data, models, human-machine alignment, interfaces, and cloud-edge-device collaboration. A total of 104 proposals have been submitted.

Two proposed standards will focus on multimodal data collection for embodied AI systems and on requirements for robots that inspect and remove foreign objects in gas-insulated switchgear chambers.

On Oct 16, delegates will visit Hangzhou's embodied AI exhibition and application center and attend the finals of the 2026 China Robot Competition, held alongside the inaugural Global Embodied AI Application Innovation Challenge.

The meeting is expected to help connect China's industrial innovations with international standardization efforts.