The 2026 national OPC development observation report described today's OPC founders as young and highly educated, with a single person now able to complete work that once required a team of five to 10 people.

"AI+OPC" communities are popping up across Hangzhou, offering entrepreneurs a supportive environment for growth.

At the Y Community, an end-to-end AI industry hub in Xiaoshan district spanning chips, models and applications, OPC founder Zhang Xiaobo built a data-labeling platform for intelligent driving systems.

His company's rapid growth owes much to the systematic support of the Y Community, Zhang said. The community offers ready-to-use services, including free workstations, shared meeting rooms and high-speed internet, and entrepreneurs regularly gather to exchange ideas. Zhang, who has been recognized under Xiaoshan district's talent program, said the monthly rental subsidy provided through the program helped him get through the toughest early stage of starting his company.

Zhang has since expanded his team to more than 60 people, describing the shift as a move from an OPC to a "Super Team Company".

At the first "AI+OPC" Innovation and Development Conference in Hangzhou, the city outlined measures covering communities, resources, talent, financing and services to support the growth of "super individuals" in the AI era. These include faster regional spatial planning, smoother data flows and a stronger supply of computing power and models.

Hangzhou also aims to build more than 100 OPC communities by 2028, cultivate over 100 OPCs with annual revenue exceeding 10 million yuan (about $1.48 million) each, and attract more than 30,000 OPC entrepreneurs.

In April, the city's market regulation administration rolled out 12 measures covering business registration, intellectual property protection and credit support for OPC founders.

Hangzhou attracted more than 350,000 people under 35 each year, and its core AI industry generated revenue of 122.9 billion yuan in the first quarter, up 25.2 percent year on year.

The city aims to build the nation's leading hub for "AI+OPC" entrepreneurship, said Du Xuliang, Hangzhou's mayor.