China's first national-level artificial intelligence pilot base dedicated to the cultural and tourism sector is launched in Hangzhou. [Photo/Tide News]

China's first national-level artificial intelligence pilot base dedicated to the cultural and tourism sector was launched on May 28 in Hangzhou, marking a major milestone in the integration of AI into the cultural and tourism industries.

Located in Hangzhou's Gongshu district, the National AI Application Pilot Base (Culture & Tourism) covers 142,000 square meters and is designed as a large-scale AI testing ground for real-world applications in cultural preservation, content production, cultural communication, and tourism integration.

The base focuses on five key capabilities — computing power, data, AI models, application development, and scenario validation — and aims to help AI technologies move from research labs into real-world applications, including restoring ancient artworks, generating cultural content, producing short videos, and developing smart tourism services such as AI-powered travel planning and destination recommendations.

Major Chinese tech companies and telecom operators, including Alibaba Cloud, Ant Group, Huawei, Lenovo, China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, also joined the initiative to help build trusted data infrastructure and AI application ecosystems for the culture and tourism industry.

Officials said the project will leverage Hangzhou's strengths as a leading digital economy hub and AI innovation center, while using the city's rich cultural resources — including the Grand Canal cultural belt — as real-world testing scenarios for next-generation AI applications.

The launch ceremony showcases cooperation between Zhejiang tourism authorities and Alibaba Cloud. [Photo/Tide News]