The “AI for All” initiative, Hong Kong’s latest drive to boost residents’ awareness of artificial intelligence, officially kicked off on Tuesday with youth empowerment as its opening focus — a move that responds to a global job market currently being drastically reshaped, said the city’s technology chief.

Tuesday marks the launch of the “Blooming with AI: Summer Talent Fest 2026”, the debut program under the “AI for All” initiative.

The summer program — hosted by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTPC) and supported by the Innovation, Technology and Industry Bureau — is set to benefit more than 20,000 university students, early-career professionals, and innovators via a rich mix of advanced courses, application competitions, internships and career fairs built around turning AI knowledge into employment-ready capability.

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A fund of HK$50 million ($6.37 million) has been set aside in Hong Kong’s 2026-27 Budget to support the “AI for All” initiative. Two other major technology institutions — Cyberport and the Hong Kong Productivity Council — will also take up key roles under the “AI for All” initiative, with respective focus on building AI awareness among students, parents, and the elderly as well as underprivileged communities and providing small and medium-sized enterprises and working professionals with practical AI know-how.

Sun Dong, secretary for innovation, technology and industry, officiated the event and told reporters at a media conference that “strong efforts” to cultivate young innovators and ensure that AI reaches and benefits the broader community are among the key tasks for the SAR government.

Sun laid out a “the-general-plus-specific” strategy: The mass-media push will aim to put AI on the radar of the Hong Kong public, while the “AI for All” program will dig deeper through three focused strands of “popularizing the basics”, “supporting professional empowerment,” and “practical enhancement” tailored to AI-workplace scenarios.

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Sun noted that the eight-episode AI Masters Series, broadcast on free-to-air local television in May, recorded more than 1.8 million views.

He said he hoped that a broad suite of advanced classes, internships, career expos, and application contests would give Hong Kong’s young people — especially fresh university graduates — a solid grounding in AI, helping them rise to the challenges that future job markets will inevitably bring.

Sun added that he was “very pleased” to have seen more young students in Hong Kong now take an active interest in pursuing innovation and technology studies while the city’s universities are doubling down on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education.

“The growth of the AI industry will be a key factor in the city’s future development,” stated Sun.

As evidence of the momentum, he pointed to the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone, where the first two buildings are now home to more than 90 companies — and more than four in ten are AI-related, he cited.

Additionally, Sun noted that the government is currently actively exploring the introduction of a legal regime to oversee the development of AI-related sectors as it drafts the city’s first local five-year plan due out in the third quarter of this year.

He also announced that he will represent the government at the 2026 APEC Digital and AI Ministerial Meeting in Chengdu, Sichuan province on June 23.

At the kick-off ceremony, Cordelia Chung, chairwoman of the board of directors of the HKSTPC, reaffirmed the corporation’s ongoing commitment to grooming talent — the “ultimate driver of innovation and technology development”— and helping the city build a “deep, future-proof” reservoir of skilled professionals.

Contact the writer at wanqing@chinadailyhk.com