Wenhui Daily | Young Creators Are Shanghai's Confidence and Future

Remembering General Secretary Xi Jinping's instructions, we delve deeply into breakthroughs on the artificial intelligence innovation map

On April 29, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Shanghai, coming to the "Mosu Space" large model innovation ecological community in Xuhui District for research, and had a cordial exchange with young innovative talents participating in the themed salon on "The Autonomous Evolution of Next-Generation Intelligent Agents".

From the lights that never go out in university laboratories to the brainstorming sessions in science and technology parks, on Shanghai's artificial intelligence innovation map, some are deeply engaged in tackling "bottleneck" technical challenges, while others bravely explore application blue oceans to define new scenarios. These young people who are immersed in the wave of innovation and entrepreneurship are the source of Shanghai's confidence in remembering the General Secretary's instructions, continuously enhancing the technological innovation source function and high-end industry leading function, and accelerating the establishment of a globally influential highland of technological innovation.

The dream of a unicorn company founder: Helping Shanghai become a global benchmark for AI technology and applications

Located in the "Mosu Space" large model innovation ecological community by the Xuhui riverside, Tezign Technology is one of the seven benchmark enterprises of artificial intelligence's "Big Dipper". Its founder is Professor Fan Ling from the College of Design and Innovation at Tongji University. In 2022, this "Content + AI" unicorn company achieved a globally leading speed. Now, Tezign Technology has completed D1 round financing, with a valuation exceeding $1 billion.

The name "Tezign" was chosen because Fan Ling has always had a dream: this young teacher, who has long taught design at Tongji, hopes to bring technology into the field of creative design, hence the English name Tezign, which combines Tech and Design, meaning "Technology + Design".

Under his leadership, Tezign Technology has achieved remarkable results in the artificial intelligence track: its content ecosystem has gathered over 100,000 creators, with annual usage of AIGC (Artificial Intelligence Generated Content) models exceeding one million times; the core technology has applied for over 160 generative AI invention patents and more than 40 software copyrights, and completed five algorithm filings; it supports over 200 large and medium-sized enterprises in achieving digital transformation of content, including providing digital solutions for more than 200 organizations and companies such as the International Olympic Committee, UNESCO, and Alibaba.

Looking to the future, we hope to enable more designers, creatives, or more broadly, creators to coexist, thrive, and co-create with AI, helping Shanghai become a global benchmark in the field of artificial intelligence technology and applications.— Fan Ling

Reflecting on it now, the keel of Tezign Technology's "Design AI battleship" was forged eight years ago in the artificial intelligence design laboratory at Tongji University. As the first interdisciplinary laboratory in design and artificial intelligence in the country, it has gathered over 30 interdisciplinary researchers. Innovation is embedded in the genes of universities; the young people active in universities are the key force of innovation.