As a key player in China's core foundational software technologies, RT-Thread will celebrate its 20th anniversary and host a developer conference on Jan 17 at the Lingang Center in Shanghai's Lin-gang Special Area.

A poster for the 2026 RT-Thread developer conference. [Photo/WeChat ID: gh_654aef287ca5]

With a focus on developing a foundational software platform for the AI era, the conference will bring together academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, over 50 leading domestic and international industry giants, global technology leaders, and more than a thousand core developers.

The event will highlight cutting-edge technologies and the latest breakthroughs in chip ecosystems and AI integration, while demonstrating innovative practices in key sectors such as automotive, robotics, and drones.

The main forum will feature a keynote presentation by academicians from the Chinese Academy of Engineering, exploring indigenous solutions for the digital infrastructure of intelligent manufacturing. The dialogue session will bring together top scholars and industry leaders to discuss research paradigms and the productivity revolution.

Four specialized sub-forums will cover scenarios across the automotive, industrial, robotics, and education sectors. Discussions at the chip and ecosystem forum will highlight AI applications from leading semiconductor manufacturers. At the automotive and AI forum, the AUTOSAR China Hub will share insights into the open-source ecosystem of AUTOSAR standards.

At the industrial and robotics forum, AgiBot will unveil its perception-decision-execution framework for intelligent robots, while leading companies such as Rockchip will discuss the future development of the industry.

The open source and education forum will bring together research institutions and universities to explore how research institutions and open-source organizations can serve as foundational contributors to the open-source ecosystem.

The conference will also feature the signing ceremony for the first batch of 2026 ecosystem partners and the lighting of the RT-Thread ecosystem tree.