Shanghai Pulls AI Startup, Chinese Technology Used by Mexican Factory

Visitors see a robot integrated with human life at the Global Developer Pioneers Summit 2025 and International Embodied Intelligence Competition at Zhangjiang Science Hall, Shanghai. (Fang Zhe - Xinhua - China Daily)

JAKARTA - Shanghai is strengthening its position as a destination city for start-ups and developers of artificial intelligence or AI. The city relies on open policies, talent, and computing capacity to attract innovation.

Quoted from China Daily, Wednesday, April 29, one example can be seen at a car factory in Puebla, a historic city in central Mexico. The digital system from the Chinese company used this year is said to be able to significantly increase production efficiency.

The system was developed by Black Lake Technologies, an industrial internet company based in Shanghai's Changning District.

Black Lake was established in 2016. The company is now developing industry-class AI agents and expanding customers overseas. Black Lake is also pushing a new "Made in China" model in smart manufacturing in the global market.

In China, the opportunity is still great. Black Lake founder and CEO Zhou Yuxiang said there are about 5 million factories across China. However, so far Black Lake has only served 30,000 factories.

In 2021, Black Lake moved its headquarters to Silicon Alley in Changning. This area is a block of technological innovation that brings together companies from various industrial chains.

Silicon Alley is one example of Shanghai's efforts to attract AI players. The city offers a friendly policy for entrepreneurs, startups, and developers, supported by strong computing capacity.

Shanghai Deputy Mayor Chen Jie said at the opening of the Global Developer Pioneers Summit 2026 last month that Shanghai wants to be the city that understands developers the most and gives them strong and open support.