World Insight with Tian Wei

In this episode of World Insight's special series "Season of AI & Basic Sciences," we spoke with 2026 Fields Medalist Yu Deng, one of the world's leading young mathematicians. We talked about how he works with AI, where mathematics can take us next, and perhaps most importantly, why this very abstract science matters to all of us.

In this special episode, we speak with four distinguished women scientists to talk about their journeys, the challenges they have faced, and where they see science is headed.

As AI advances fast in a quick shifting industry, open-source models are gaining ground, while different players are taking divergent paths. Yet, beneath the surface, important questions remain: How should governments approach regulation without stifling innovation? Can different regulatory frameworks find common ground? And, what will it take to step up cooperation and AI governance among nations?

Global extreme weathers are increasingly more common, disrupting lives and inflicting damage. The World Meteorological Organization reports that periods of extreme heat are becoming more frequent, far intense and longer-lasting. This summer, deadly heat waves hit Europe, with the continent reeling from record temperatures and wildfires. In the United States, July this year was the hottest ever recorded, with the highest temperatures across the country. In Asia, typhoons have spawned strong winds and heavy rainfall. What's driving these changes? How can countries improve early-warning systems toward greater resilience?

Two young Chinese mathematicians, Wang Hong and Deng Yu, recently won Fields Medals — the highest honor in mathematics. On the sidelines of the ongoing International Congress of Basic Science here in Beijing, we spoke to Professor Shing-Tung Yau, chair of the International Congress of Basic Science, who talks about mathematics, talent — and what makes a great mathematician.

Algorithms drive today's top AI applications. Professor Robert Tarjan, the 1986 Turing Award winner, notes that while simple algorithms efficiently compress massive data for human use, truly smart AI still requires intrinsic human curiosity to explore the world. He is in Beijing for the 2026 International Congress of Basic Science.

More than five months into the US-Israel-Iran conflict, the Strait of Hormuz has repeatedly been closed, reopened and thrust back into uncertainty, becoming one of the conflict's most consequential flashpoints. What might that mean for global energy security and the future of geopolitical competition?

The 2026 International Congress of Basic Science or ICBS opens in Beijing on the weekend with the inaugural ICBS medals honoring scientists whose breakthroughs have advanced mathematics, physics, engineering, and so on. Among them is Professor Wang Yifang from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, whose work has driven China's rise in neutrino physics, which helps human being to answer. Some of the biggest questions about the universe, where did everything come from? Why does anything exist at all? And what the universe is really made of?

A massive migrant rush to Spain's North African territory Ceuta has rattled the EU exposing sharp divisions within the EU over border and migration policy. The EU has pledged emergency financial and operational support for Spain while acknowledging deep seated disagreements among member states on border sharing. Meanwhile, the UN has been closely monitoring the humanitarian fallout of the event as the High Commissioner for refugee called for the protection of vulnerable people meet the border turmoil. What are the migrant crisis root causes? What does it take to deal with the aftermath now?

We will focus on this season's AI and basic sciences program. Amid rapid AI advances, China has made governance a global priority—recently, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary Rubio agreed in Manila to follow heads-of-state guidance and act across fields including AI. But how can the world prepare for the AI era? I spoke exclusively with UNDP chief Alexander de Croo at WAIC, and also with ex-DeepMind researcher Richard Jane on safety and alignment.

Starting on August 2, the European Commission's AI office extended the scope of the Artificial Intelligence Act, and new transparency rules came into force. Interactive AI systems such as chatbots must now clearly inform users they are not human. AI generated or manipulated content also must carry machine readable markings. These obligations mark a significant step in the phased rollout of the EU's AI Act, but its implications stretch far beyond Europe. How will these rules and related rules meanwhile reshape the trajectory of AI development? What does it mean? For the future of global AI governance, this is a topic beyond Europe.

The latest number: China's GDP grew by 4.7 percent year on year in the first half of 2026. The latest meeting: the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau meeting. It noted that since the beginning of this year, China's economy has shown a trend characterized by new growth drivers and improving economic structure. The meeting called for efforts to advance the planning and development of six major infrastructure networks, strengthen long-term and stable support for basic research, implement the AI Plus Initiative, foster new forms of the smart economy, and improve the governance system for artificial intelligence. Where is the Chinese economy exactly headed?

August 1 this year marks the 85th anniversary of the Flying Tigers, a historic chapter when Chinese and American soldiers fought side by side and entrusted each other with their lives during some of the darkest days of World War II. That shared sacrifice has remained one of the most deeply resonant chapters in the history of friendship between the two peoples. Decades later, veterans and their families returned to China not as fighters, but as visitors carrying memories of a shared past.

Robotics, artificial intelligence and innovative medicines have emerged as new growth engines in China's trade portfolio, with some calling them the "new new three," following the earlier trio of electric vehicles, lithium batteries and solar cells. The numbers are striking. Chinese large language models processed more than 36 trillion tokens in the third week of July, ranking first globally for the 12th consecutive week. China exported 930 million US dollars worth of industrial robots in the first half of the year, up more than 18 percent year on year. Meanwhile, Chinese pharmaceutical firms were involved in eight of the world's 10 largest innovative drug licensing deals, worth around 110 billion dollars.

AI startup Kimi released its K3 model on Tuesday Beijing time, with third-party evaluations showing performance comparable to Claude 5 at a fraction of the cost per task. The rise of capable and affordable Chinese AI models is fueling global debates over technology competition and regulation. In the US, companies including Nvidia, Microsoft and OpenAI, along with more than 30 signatories, are urging policymakers to support open-weight models and avoid conflating legitimate techniques like distillation with unlawful extraction. Where is the debate heading, and what could it mean for future AI development and China-US AI dialogue?

Chinese mathematicians Deng Yu and Wang Hong were awarded the Fields Medals at the 2026 International Congress of Mathematicians on Thursday. Shing-Tung Yau, a renowned mathematician and a professor at Tsinghua University, sent his congratulations. We earlier interviewed Professor Yau, who has long championed the cultivation of young talent and the pursuit of scientific rigor and originality.

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting series has recently concluded in Manila. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi cited the tangible achievements of the China-ASIAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership over the past five years. He stressed the need for greater unity in facing emerging challenges and uncertainties. Wang also met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the sidelines of the ministerial gathering. What are the outcomes of this key diplomatic interaction? What could be its impact?

As this year's World Artificial Intelligence Conference wrapped up, China's vision for developing Al has become remarkably clear. Yet one fundamental question stands out: what does people-centered Al truly mean? I post this question to leading policy makers, scientists and global leaders at the conference, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He did say global Al governance remains in its infancy, urging nations to build bridges in shaping Al. He also welcomed China's initiative to help the developing world harness Al responsibility as these technologies determine our shared future.

China's latest large language model Kimi K3 is believed by many to be among the most powerful LLMs in the world, yet developed at a fraction of the cost and compute of its American counterparts. The conversation in Al is increasingly turning to something bigger: AGI, artificial general intelligence, a hypothetical Al that can match or exceed human cognitive abilities across virtually any task. Professor Song-chun Zhu, founding director of the Beijing Institute for General Artificial Intelligence, has spent three decades researching Al. He firmly rejects the idea that building ever bigger, more powerful language models is the road to AGI. Instead, his team is taking a fundamentally different approach, a cognitive architecture embodied by a virtual child called Tongtong who learns continuously through interactions with the world.

Major announcements were made at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance, leading to new momentum for global Al development. But a crucial question must be asked, what exactly is the relation between humans and Al? What's the prospect of people-centered Al?

In this special series "Season of AI & Basic Sciences", we talk to three Turing Award winners, who shared their views on topics about artificial intelligence.

The global artificial intelligence community gathers in Shanghai for the 2026 World Al Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global Al Governance, bringing together top minds in science, policy and industry. The forum looks at where Al is headed next and the role of global governance of Al, which is now lagging much behind the development of technologies. AI is changing science. How is it conducted, what questions scientists can ask and how quickly discoveries can benefit society? I talked to Professor Omar Yaghi, the 2025 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry who is one of the world's foremost chemists and material scientists.

Today we are stepping into one of the most decisive conversations in global tech: the race to build humanoid robots. Capital is flooding in worldwide. Tesla is retooling factories, Nvidia and SoftBank are placing major bets. China, meanwhile, is scaling manufacturing at record speed. Behind this gold rush lies a real disagreement: is the humanoid form the inevitable future of embodied intelligence or just a compelling story we tell ourselves? The choices we make today could shape who leads this field for the next decade and also the fate of mankind. We are putting forward this question: whether the world's biggest players should be betting specifically on humanoid robots.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping our world at an unprecedented pace, bringing us to a critical crossroads. On the one hand, the opportunities are immense. There are promises to revolutionize how we tackle global challenges from climate change to curing diseases. On the other hand, the risks are profound. Deep fakes threaten reality, opaque algorithms can influence critical decisions, and autonomous weapons challenge human control over warfare. And all the while, the geopolitical race for Al dominance is intensifying.

Over two million people have been evacuated, and a multi-province emergency mobilization activated as Typhoon Bavi hits China. Early warnings and mass evacuations have minimized the casualties, and Bavi is weakening as it moves northwest. But flooding and landslides persist, and so does an even bigger issue: the warming sea is fueling more violent storms. Is this gonna be the new normal? How do we prepare for what's to come?

The US and Iran have renewed strikes against each other, just three weeks after both signed a memorandum of understanding on ending the war. The international community has been keenly watching developments, as both sides have yet to fix differences over their agreement. What should we make of the latest situation in Iran? As conflicts persist in the Gulf region, what do these mean for the Strait of Hormuz, global energy supplies and the broader future of the Middle East?

Tremendous resources are being put into developing the latest large language models in the US and in China. However, enterprise Al, the complete system that helps an organization solve business problems, also enjoy great business potential. That suggested by Doctor Kai-Fu Lee, founder and CEO of 01.Al. He hopes this company can strive to become China's first profitable Al 2.0 company.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has concluded his visit to Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway, reaching broad consensus with Nordic leaders on stabilizing China-Europe relations. The visits have helped push for global green transition and collaborative governance for artificial intelligence. Tian Wei recently talked to Sir Robin Niblett, Warden of New College from the University of Oxford. Cultural exchanges have long anchored relations between China and Europe. Tian Wei also spoke with British Ambassador to China Peter Wilson about the enduring legacy and impact of cultural diplomacy.

This summer, let's celebrate the season of basic science and artificial Intelligence. Tian Wei is going to bring you a series of interviews, discussions, and debates with the hope to bring more public literacy of the latest scientific development and better understanding of Al and its impact. Today we meet three Turing Award winners. The Turing Award is the highest distinction in computer science, often called the Nobel Prize of computing.

The United States marked its 250th anniversary this year. The changes taking place in the US and their implications for that country and the rest of the world is significant. On that and more, Tian Wei spoke with Thomas Fingar, a professor at Stanford University, on the sideline of the World Peace Forum. America is looking back at this past and ahead to its role in the changing world. One of the most important questions is how it manages its relationship with China. Howard Kennedy School Professor Graham Allison shared his perspectives saying that the two countries have been trying to reform and reshape their relationship.

The United States celebrates 250 years of independence on Saturday. Two and a half centuries ago, the early settlers of this land broke free from the yoke of colonial rule. In the centuries that followed, waves of people of the globe arrived on these shores, their lives intertwining, their cultures colliding and ultimately fusing together on this vast new continent. Adam Tooze is a leading British historian currently teaching at Columbia University's History Department in the US. As a non-American living in the country, viewed from an international and historical vantage point, what does he make of America's 250-year history and its present-day reality?

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway. Earlier, a joint statement marked the official launch of the China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism as both sides convened for the inaugural meeting. China-EU academic and trade cooperation continues to generate mutual benefits. For many European companies operating in China, close collaboration translates into significant investment in innovation. Our guests highlight how China has become a major hub for global innovation, and why long term cooperation with China is a rewarding strategy.

The Al+ Initiative is China's national action plan to drive Al into every corner of the economy. Few have witnessed this journey as closely as Feng Junlan. As the chief scientist of China Mobile, she has been working on large language models for more than 10 years. She believes Al should not be a magic box. It must be trustworthy, controllable and safe. Al building itself is a plain way to explain the phrase "recursive self-improvement," which is a process in which early artificial general intelligence, or AGI systems, rewrite their own computer code which might lead to, theoretically speaking, super intelligence. On that and more, Tian Wei spoke to computer scientist Mingcheng Zhuge, whose research focuses primarily on coding agents, recursive self-improvement, and neural computers.

Innovation-driven development is the key to China's long term economic resilience and steady growth. From Al to green energy, home-grown breakthroughs are reshaping industries and opening more possibilities. As Harvard University Professor Graham Allison notes, these Chinese innovation efforts will be translated into products that can benefit people and redefine global competition. China's pharmaceutical-biotech sector is poised for sustained growth driven by policy support, corporate R&D and talent dividends. As Eric Tse puts it, China's innovation is not just for China, it translates into global innovation that benefits the world.

APEC trade ministers have issued a joint statement upon conclusion of their meeting in Suzhou. Will it open a golden era for the Free Trade Area of the Asia Pacific?

Innovation-driven development is the key to China's long term economic resilience and steady growth. On the sidelines of the Summer Davos forum, Tian Wei sat down with Professor Graham Allison from Harvard University to talk about China's innovation and also China-US relations. China's pharmaceutical biotech sector is poised for sustained growth driven by policy support, corporate R&D and talent dividends. Tian Wei spoke with Eric Tse, CEO of Sino Biopharmaceutical.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday delivered a special address at the opening plenary of the Summer Davos. He said China's innovation is earned through years of strengthening its capabilities and relentless hard work. It has also been driven by widespread application across industries and cultivated through a robust ecosystem. The premier also said China opportunity 2.0 represents comprehensive innovation-driven empowerment and high return investment prospect.

The World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting of the New Champions, also known as Summer Davos, opens this week in Dalian, China. Its goal: to answer one question - how the world closes the gap between technological breakthrough and broad economic benefit. In my exclusive interview with WEF President Alois Zwinggi, he suggests scaling innovation is the key for good quality growth. This month, China unveiled an extensive array of financial opening-up policies. In an exclusive interview, Giovanni Tria, the former Italian minister of economy and finance, explains why China's push for RMB assets is the key to a more stable global financial system.

The APEC economic leaders' meeting this year is to take place in November in Shenzhen. Over the weekend in Beijing, the APEC China CEO forum was held focusing on openness, connectivity and coordination. AI built itself. What does it mean for human beings? Those questions are being frequently asked today as Al is moving to the center stage of economies and society. I talked to a computer scientist on the sidelines of the BAAI conference, one of the leading forums in China bringing key Al stakeholders together.

The Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs announced that the talks between the United States and Iran scheduled for Friday in Burgenstock have been cancelled. The mountain resort in Switzerland had been designated as the venue for initial negotiations between the two countries on the implementation of their agreement. Earlier this week, Iran and the US announced the finalization of the memorandum of understanding to end the war on all fronts, including Lebanon. Despite the official signing of the US-Iran agreement, Israel continues its strikes on southern Lebanon. What caused the scheduled talks to stall? What does this reversal mean for all parties involved? And in what areas can Iran and the US still engage in further detailed negotiations in the future?

China concludes its presidency of the United Nations Security Council. From addressing the climate crisis to fostering peace and sustainable development, China's proposals are increasingly shaping the blueprint for international cooperation. In an exclusive interview, Stephen Jackson, the UN resident coordinator in China, shares his profound insights on the deepening ties between the UN and China and how Chinese wisdom is translating into actionable solutions for today's most depressing global challenges.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping our world today from society to individual life, but who laid the groundwork for this digital world? Doctor Whitfield Diffie is the man to ask. As a world-renowned Touring Award recipient and a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, he is widely regarded as the founding father of modern digital security. His pioneering work on public key cryptography remains the bedrock of the global digital economy today. I did catch up with him at the recent Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence Conference. We talked about the evolving relationship between Al and humanity, and whether governance can keep pace with rapid tech changes.

France hosts this year's G7 summit starting Monday. Reducing global imbalances is a top priority. Many suggest this summit comes at a critical time. Global governance faces strain on multiple fronts while the transatlantic rift on trade and defense deepens. At the same time, middle powers are winning growing influence in global affairs. With the G20 and APEC still ahead, this summit offers a glimpse into whether the traditional Western alignment still works. Many more are also asking if the G20 could really turn its theme into action.

A low-budget film with no star actors or fancy effects is winning hearts across China. Dear You follows a grandson's journey to Thailand, uncovering a decades-old story of family devotion.

The world today is changing rapidly with technology development driven by basic science. China, as the second largest economy, put a lot of effort on basic science research. In 2025, China's total R&D investment exceeded 3.92 trillion yuan, about 569 billion US dollars, reaching 2.8% of GDP. Basic research funding last year hit nearly 280 billion yuan, accounting for 7.08% of the total R&D spending. More and more young talents from China and abroad are devoting themselves to basic science and their cause will eventually contribute to the development of humanity.

The World Conference of Classics 2026 is held in Athens, Greece this week under the theme "Dialogue Between Ancient and Modern: Contemporary Inspiration from Classical Wisdom." The term of classic studies is a relatively new academic subject in China and there are debates on its definition. Roger Ames is one of the most well-known American scholars on Chinese classics. I sat down with him at the Hall of Fame of Chinese Philosophers in Peking University in Beijing before he leaves for the World Conference of Classics.

General Secretary Xi Jinping of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, also the Chinese president, is paying a state visit to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from June 8th to 9th at the invitation of Kim Jong Un, General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK. The visit marks his first overseas trip this year and his first state visit to the DPRK in seven years.

World Environment Day this year focuses on climate change, with an eye on the Earth's alarming distress signals - rising seas, raging wildfires, heatwaves and melting glaciers. That's why China has been actively pushing for a greener world. It has contributed roughly 25 percent of the world's green renewal in recent years. Efforts to push back encroaching barren deserts, including the Mu Us Desert, one of the four major sandy lands in China, resonate with people, including those between China and the US. In 1999, Ronald Sakolsky, an American middle school exchange teacher in central China's Henan Province, raised 5-thousand dollars to help a Chinese couple plant more tree saplings in China's Mu Us Desert. Today, that gift has grown into more than 50,000 thriving trees across the desert. We talked to the American teacher who, together with his Chinese friends across the Pacific, made an unforgettable story of kinship and respect.

When the world talks about science and technology, competition tends to dominate the conversation sometimes. But spend some time with the scientists, and you will hear something very different. For most of them, the work has always been about collaboration, pushing forward humanity's understanding of the universe and beyond. I've had the privilege of sitting down with some of the brightest minds in science.

Not long ago, the tech world was shocked with what is now widely known as the DeepSeek moment and open source turning point that shattered the myth of tech titan monopoly toward a democratization of global Al. Since that milestone, rapid Al development has been on two distinct, powerful tracks. The US is quite keen on speeding up the AGI breakthroughs while China has shifted to the Al+ wave with massive applications across diverse industries. This has sparked new frontier applications. A prime example is Nvidia's recent partnership with China's Unitree Robotics to co-develop cutting edge embodied robot, proving the rising fusion of hardware with software.