"AI-led US Falls Behind China in Talent Competition"

While the United States, which led the ChatGPT craze, is spearheading the global artificial intelligence (AI) technology competition, it has been assessed that China is ahead of the U.S. in terms of AI talent development.

According to the ‘Global AI Talent Tracker 2.0’ by the U.S. think tank MacroPolo on the 24th (local time), as of 2022, about 47% of the world’s top 20% advanced AI researchers were identified as being from China. This figure nearly doubled in just three years from 29% in 2019. Meanwhile, the proportion of AI researchers from the U.S. shrank from 20% to 18% during the same period. South Korea remained steady at 2%.

MacroPolo stated, "China has expanded its domestic AI talent pool over the past few years to meet the demands of the AI industry," and evaluated that "it is now producing a significant portion of the world’s top-level AI researchers." The cultivation of such AI researchers is considered essential to lead future dominance in the AI era.

Among the top 20% AI researchers working in the U.S., those of Chinese origin accounted for the largest share at 38%, slightly surpassing those of U.S. origin (37%). The New York Times (NYT) reported, "China has become the country producing the most AI talent, surpassing the U.S. in some indicators."

However, the NYT also pointed out that the majority of global AI talent still graduated from U.S. undergraduate programs. Additionally, many foreign AI researchers remain in the U.S. even after completing their doctoral degrees there. MacroPolo noted, "The proportion of top-level AI researchers staying in their home countries is increasing," but also diagnosed that "the U.S. remains the best place for top AI researchers to work."

Some raise security concerns regarding Chinese-origin researchers amid the U.S.-China hegemonic competition. In response, Professor Subarao Kambhampati of Arizona State University told the NYT that if U.S. authorities attempt to ban Chinese-origin researchers from conducting research in the U.S., it would be "tantamount to shooting themselves in the foot."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.