The International Joint Laboratory of AI for Industry was inaugurated in Qingdao on May 18. The lab is a collaboration between Qingdao University of Science and Technology (QUST) and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech), building on a strong history of cooperation.

The joint lab is designed to address major national strategic needs, such as innovation-driven development, AI-driven new industrialization, and the cultivation of new quality productive forces.

The agreement was signed during the opening of the 2026 Symposium on AI for Industry. Professor Wang Dianhui from QUST and Professor Ivan Tyukin from Skoltech were appointed as co-directors of the lab.

Professor Tyukin, a Turing Fellow and director of Skoltech's AI Center, noted that the collaboration began around 2009, when researchers from both sides began working on foundational academic issues. He outlined that a key technical goal of the lab is to develop low-cost, low-power, and highly intelligent AI models for industrial applications, with implementation to be advanced through two-way academic exchanges, including faculty, master's and doctoral students, postdocs, and joint international research projects.

Skoltech is a leader in AI research in Russia, with its AI center specializing in applied AI and a strong track record in multi-agent industrial AI systems, generative design, and digital twins. QUST, in recent years, has made significant AI research advances in fields such as polymer materials, smart chemical engineering, low-altitude flight, visual perception, and embodied intelligence.

"The lab will focus on lightweight machine learning theories and industrial foundation models, striving to become a leading 'AI + Industry' innovation platform," said Professor Wang, director of the lab and dean of the Intelligent Chemical Engineering Research Institute of QUST.

This is the first international joint laboratory established by QUST. Yang Tianmei, Party secretary of QUST, emphasized that the lab is a significant step for the university to serve national strategies, regional development, and industrial progress, bringing new innovative momentum to deeper Sino-Russian collaboration in science, technology, and education, and contributing to the development of new quality productive forces and high-quality growth.

The International Joint Laboratory of AI for Industry, jointly established by QUST and the Skoltech from Russia, is inaugurated in Qingdao on May 18. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]