A dark, diamond-like structure has risen on the banks of Shanghai’s Huangpu River. Glittering by day and inky black after sunset, its glass facade evokes the angled geometry of a gemstone. But this sculptural form is neither rooted in nature nor even entirely designed by humans.

It is — in part, at least — the work of artificial intelligence.

The West Bund Convention Center is a new showpiece venue in a once-industrial Shanghai district now central to China’s push for AI supremacy. The West Bund neighborhood already houses the aptly named AI Tower skyscraper and a 13-million-square-foot “ AI Valley ” expected to one day house tech enterprises worth a combined $14 billion.

So, when American architecture practice Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) was commissioned to design a home there f

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