Unilever: China's AI ecosystem is the fertile ground for global innovation, and the advancement of frontier science by AI will have a geometric effect.

The Chinese AI ecosystem is the fertile ground for global innovation, and AI has become one of the key engines for corporate transformation and upgrading. We are accelerating the scale application of AI to empower all core business processes." During the World Artificial Intelligence Conference 2025, Shen Jun, Vice President of R&D Center, Unilever China, stated that solutions developed based on the Chinese AI ecosystem are rapidly expanding globally. Unilever has launched the "AI for Science" innovative platform led by the Chinese R&D team in collaboration with DeepMind Technologies. The goal of the platform is to make AI an integral part of daily research and development, with specific achievements evident in various scenarios. Shen Jun gave an example where previously it took 3 to 5 years and millions of euros to develop a solution with a team of scientists, but with AI, it can be completed in a few months at a cost of only tens of thousands of euros, reducing costs by 90%. In Shen Jun's view, AI has deeply embedded in all dimensions of Unilever's performance growth, operational efficiency, and business resilience. "Although applications are still in the early stages, the effects are already apparent, and the speed of maturity will be faster. We believe that AI will have a geometric effect on the advancement of frontier science."