China's Rise in Global AI Talent Competition

Published Date : 11/07/2025 

The global competition for artificial intelligence (AI) talent is heating up, with China emerging as a formidable contender. Despite aggressive poaching by U.S. tech giants, China is leveraging its homegrown talent and strategic policies to stay in the race. 

The latest eye-watering artificial intelligence (AI) outlays aren’t going toward high-end chips or data-center buildouts, but individuals. The competition for AI talent has reached unprecedented levels, prompting Meta Platforms Inc to reportedly offer sign-on bonuses of $100 million to lure senior staff from rivals. It feels “as if someone has broken into our home and stolen something,” OpenAI’s chief research officer said of the aggressive poaching in a memo to staff obtained by Wired. The latest victim: Apple Inc, which just lost top executive Ruoming Pang to Meta.

It’s telling that so many of the superstar players U.S. tech titans are boasting about adding to their rosters are of Chinese origin. Including Pang, eight out of the 12 new recruits to the Meta Superintelligence Labs team graduated from universities on the mainland before pursuing careers abroad. This means that a key driver of the global AI race is an intense scramble for the people building it: Chinese talent.

The outsize role that they play in developing AI systems for its geopolitical rival isn’t likely lost on Beijing. In other tech fields where workers hold a knowledge advantage, the government hasn’t been afraid of asking them to return home. Authorities have already reportedly restricted travel for some of DeepSeek’s employees. Instead of cracking down on immigration, U.S. policymakers now must do more to entice the best and brightest from China and beyond and create an environment where they are likely to stay.

But American business leaders shouldn’t assume that the big paychecks alone will win an international talent contest. Researchers at Harvard University last month said that the number of high-impact scientific publications shows that China dominates in “raw human capital for AI.” This helps drive indigenous research despite U.S. advantages in computing power and investment. Top workers may still be keen on making money overseas, but that doesn’t mean a lot of them won’t stay at home.

Separate researchers at Stanford University in May analyzed data on the more than 200 authors listed on DeepSeek’s technical papers. The firm’s success story is “fundamentally, one of homegrown talent,” they found. Half of DeepSeek’s team never left China for education or work, and those who did ultimately returned to pursue AI development. This has policy implications for the U.S.

China looks at international experience less as a brain drain and more as a way for researchers to acquire knowledge before returning home, the Stanford paper said. The U.S. “may be mistakenly assuming it has a permanent talent lead.” It aligns with other data that suggests America has been losing its allure as a destination for top-tier AI researchers. Only 42 per cent of these individuals worked in the U.S. in 2022, compared to 59 per cent in 2019. During that same period, China was closing the gap fast, rising to 28 per cent from 11 per cent.

The Chinese government, meanwhile, has been funding AI labs and research at universities as part of industrial policy. It’s not clear how well this investment has paid off, but it has helped incubate talent who went on to support breakthroughs at private companies. One of DeepSeek’s keystone papers, for example, was co-authored by scholars at Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Nanjing University. In this way, China has been building up an ecosystem of innovation that doesn’t center around poaching individual star players.

Domestic firms are less able to spend so lavishly to attract top talent. U.S. private investment in AI was nearly 12 times the amount in China, according to one analysis. Earlier this year, state-backed news outlet the Global Times reported on the “high-paying job offers” from DeepSeek, which could amount to annual income of some 1.54 million yuan per year (just under $215,000). It’s a significant sum in urban China, but hardly the instant millionaire-minting figures being tossed around in Silicon Valley.

DeepSeek is nonetheless in the midst of a recruiting blitz — one that’s trying to attract overseas Chinese AI researchers to come back home. It has posted a spate of roles on LinkedIn, a platform that’s not used domestically. As my colleague Dave Lee has written, this is about more than just money, but instead convincing workers that their contribution “will matter most in the history books.” DeepSeek may be hoping that this pitch will work on homesick Chinese talent.

Ultimately, just under half of the world’s top-tier AI researchers come from China, compared to 18 per cent from the U.S. Many may be seeking opportunities abroad, but Beijing is pulling all its levers to convince at least some to stay at a time when America isn’t signaling a warm welcome. Mind-boggling sign-on bonuses from Silicon Valley may be enough to win a cross-border battle for talent, but time will tell if it’s enough to win the war. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS): 

Q: What is driving the competition for AI talent?

A: The competition for AI talent is driven by the critical role that skilled individuals play in developing advanced AI systems, which are essential for tech companies to stay competitive in the global market.

Q: Why are many top AI researchers from China?

A: Many top AI researchers are from China due to the country's strong educational system, significant government investment in AI research, and the large number of high-impact scientific publications produced by Chinese researchers.

Q: How is the U.S. responding to the talent poaching by Chinese firms?

A: The U.S. is responding by offering high sign-on bonuses and creating a more welcoming environment for international talent. However, there is a growing recognition that financial incentives alone may not be enough to retain top researchers.

Q: What is DeepSeek's strategy for attracting talent?

A: DeepSeek is focusing on recruiting overseas Chinese AI researchers by offering competitive salaries and emphasizing the long-term impact of their work. They are also leveraging platforms like LinkedIn to reach potential candidates.

Q: What are the implications of China's approach to AI talent?

A: China's approach to AI talent, which includes funding research and encouraging international experience, is helping to build a robust ecosystem of innovation. This could challenge the U.S.'s dominance in AI and shift the balance of power in the global tech industry. 

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