About 1,500 drones lit up the night sky over Tianjin on Thursday, forming a 3D light show featuring local landmarks and imagery inspired by Haihe River culture, as the city hosted events tied to the 2026 World Intelligence Expo.

The performance accompanied the opening of the Intelligent Robot Carnival at the Cultural Center in Hexi district, a four-day event showcasing the latest developments in robotics and artificial intelligence.

Visitors watched robot boxing matches, dance performances, and calligraphy demonstrations designed to highlight advances in the intelligent robotics industry.

"Robots are an important carrier of artificial intelligence, facilitating the transition of AI from the virtual world to real life," said Yin Jihui, secretary of the Hexi district Party committee.

Among the exhibits, intelligent bionic quadruped robots demonstrated obstacle-crossing abilities, including climbing stairs and navigating slopes.

The C1-W robot, developed by Galileo (Tianjin) Technology, can carry up to 15 kilograms and operate for three to five hours, according to sales manager Zhao Kewen. Equipped with LIDAR and wide-angle cameras, the robots can generate real-time 3D maps and autonomously avoid obstacles.

"Nowadays, the recognition of intelligent products by the government and the public is increasing," Zhao said. "Sales in the first quarter of this year have roughly doubled compared to last year."

"In recent years, we have formed a relatively complete industrial ecosystem in the fields of industrial robots, specialized robots, and service robots," said Zhai Lixin, vice-mayor of Tianjin. According to an action plan for promoting innovation and development in AI (2025-2027), Tianjin plans to focus on the field of embodied intelligence to promote the research and application of underwater robots, industrial robots, and special-purpose robots.

Chen Yijun and Zhou Jianan contributed to this story.