Internet-connected smart systems are everywhere – from autonomous cars to home assistants – and they’re only getting smarter. However, as edge devices process more data locally, they become prime targets for hackers, especially in the age of AI-powered attacks. A new technology developed at CUHK promises to solve that problem – by exploiting the unique physical properties of carbon nanotubes to make physically unique devices that can be reprogrammed in trillions of different ways, making hacking feel like trying to pick a lock that reshapes itself every time you touch it.

CUHK researchers have unveiled the world’s first AI-powered surgical robot that works like a true “third hand” in the operating room. Using a cutting-edge embodied intelligence platform, the robot doesn’t just follow instructions. It understands its surroundings, adapts in real time, and performs multiple surgical tasks without extra sensors. This breakthrough, proven in live animal trials, is transforming science fiction into surgical reality, where AI unites with human expertise for safer, faster surgeries worldwide.

2025 marks the centenary of the birth of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics is the scientific theory describing the behaviour of subatomic particles that has fundamentally reshaped our understanding of the universe. With the establishment of the State Key Laboratory of Quantum Information Technologies and Materials, CUHK aspires to bring even more earth-shattering breakthroughs to the next century of quantum science.

CUHK has been consistently recognised with prestigious awards in the fields of innovation, academia, and the arts. As the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster named the world’s top innovation cluster, alongside CUHK’s bumper crop of gongs at a leading innovation competition. It has also achieved outstanding results in two majors benchmark global university rankings, while Music faculty member Ms Vivian Ip has recorded a history-making competition win.