Speech by the Acting Commissioner for Digital Policy, Mr Daniel Cheung, JP, at the “AI+Power Awards 2026” (with photos)

Culsin (Founder & Chief Visionary Officer, Baobab Tree Event Management Co., Ltd., Organiser of AI+ Power 2026, Ms Culsin Li), members of the judging panel, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

I am honored to be here today to join you in celebrating the winners of the AI+ Power Awards 2026 who are effectively applying the “Power of AI” to our daily lives and businesses. This year’s theme, “AI+ Power in Action”, perfectly reflects Hong Kong’s strategic goal of using AI technology to drive our economic growth and unlock new opportunities. To all of today’s winners, your hard work and creativity are truly helping Hong Kong move forward as a smarter, more competitive, and more exciting place to live and work. We are immensely proud to celebrate your achievements.

To echo the momentum we see here today, the Government is taking forward the National AI+ Initiative by promoting “industries for AI” and “AI for industries”. As a cornerstone of this effort, the Hong Kong Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Institute (AIRDI) will come into operation in the second half of this year with one of its objectives to promote the transformation of R&D outcomes, thereby empowering industries such as healthcare, legal services, finance to adopt AI.

On application, the Government established the “Hong Kong Generative AI Research and Development Center” (or HKGAI in short) in 2023 through the InnoHK initiative. Leveraging its proprietary large language model, HKGAI has developed a versatile suite of generative AI applications, such as HKPilot for document drafting, translation, and summarisation; HKChat, a generative AI chatbot integrated with online search capabilities; and HKMeeting for automated generating meeting transcripts and summaries. HKChat is freely accessible to all Hong Kong citizens, with over 720,000 registered users.

Within the government, we have established the “AI Solution Catalogue” to help government departments efficiently explore and adopt suitable AI technologies, thereby driving innovation and enhancing public services. The DPO will also provide AI Toolbox to promote the popular use of AI technologies and tools by departments in day-to-day administrative tasks such as data analysis, customer service and document processing.

Looking forward, the new Committee on AI+ and Industry Development Strategy, as announced in this year’s Budget, will bring together experts from academia, business, and our science and technology parks to formulate forward-looking strategies and foster the conditions necessary for AI to empower industrial transformation. The initial priorities will focus on life and health technology as well as embodied intelligence.

We recognise the importance of popularising the understanding and use of AI across all levels. To enhance AI literacy and practical skills, the “AI Master Series” (AI大講堂) is currently broadcasting on TVB Jade (Channel 81) on Saturdays at 6 pm. This eight-episode series invites prominent local experts and leading academics to introduce AI and share insights into its practical applications. The upcoming episode on 6 June is the fifth in the series, and I strongly encourage you all to watch it. After broadcast, the episodes are also uploaded and available on YouTube for review.

In closing, I wish to commend the winners for their invaluable contributions to Hong Kong’s innovation ecosystem. Your dedicated work is central to our goal of a tech-led future. I encourage everyone to maintain this collective drive, inspiring new waves of discovery and innovation. Thank you.

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