China's AI talent: Can the US compete?

China is competing with the US in the AI talent war, with top tech companies like Meta offering sign-on bonuses of $100 million to lure senior staff from rivals. Many of these superstar players are of Chinese origin, with eight out of 12 new recruits to Meta's Superintelligence Labs team graduating from Chinese universities before pursuing careers abroad. The Chinese government has reportedly restricted travel for some of DeepSeek's employees, but US policymakers must do more to entice the best and brightest from China and beyond. The US may be mistakenly assuming it has a permanent talent lead, as China is developing its own homegrown AI talent.

The global AI talent war is heating up, with top tech companies like Meta Platforms Inc. offering unprecedented sign-on bonuses to attract senior staff from rivals. The latest high-profile poaching includes Apple Inc.'s top executive Ruoming Pang joining Meta, who was one of eight new recruits to the Meta Superintelligence Labs team with Chinese origins [1].

The aggressive pursuit of AI talent is driven by the intense scramble for the people building it, with Chinese talent playing a key role. Eight out of the 12 new recruits to the Meta Superintelligence Labs team graduated from Chinese universities before pursuing careers abroad [1]. This trend is not lost on Beijing, which has been funding AI labs and research at universities as part of its industrial policy [2].

While the US has traditionally been the top destination for top-tier AI researchers, it is losing its allure. Only 42% of these individuals worked in the US in 2022, compared to 59% in 2019. During the same period, China was closing the gap fast, rising to 28% from 11% [1]. The Chinese government's approach to international experience is to view it as a way for researchers to acquire knowledge before returning home, rather than as a brain drain [2].

US policymakers must do more to entice the best and brightest from China and beyond and create an environment where they are likely to stay. The US may be mistakenly assuming it has a permanent talent lead, as China is developing its own homegrown AI talent. For instance, DeepSeek's success story is fundamentally one of homegrown talent, with half of its team never leaving China for education or work [2].

The US's ability to compete in the AI talent war may be hindered by its reliance on poaching individual star players, while China is building an ecosystem of innovation. Domestic firms in the US are less able to spend lavishly to attract top talent, with US private investment in AI being nearly 12 times the amount in China [2].

References:
[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-07-09/can-china-compete-with-the-us-in-the-ai-talent-war
[2] https://www.business-standard.com/technology/tech-news/can-china-compete-against-us-in-ai-talent-war-with-homegrown-minds-125071000116_1.html