Can China compete in the AI talent war?

Many of the top-tier players in the field are of Chinese origin.

- Catherine Thorbecke

The latest eye-watering artificial intelligence (AI) outlays aren't going towards high-end chips or data centre buildouts, but individuals.

The competition for AI talent prompted Meta Platforms to reportedly offer sign-on bonuses of US$100 million (S$128 million) to lure senior staff from its 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 is Apple, which just lost top executive Pang Ruoming to Meta.

It's telling that so many of the superstar players US tech titans are boasting about adding to their rosters are of Chinese origin. Including Mr Pang, eight out of the 12 new recruits to the Meta Superintelligence Labs team graduated from universities on the mainland before pursuing careers abroad. It 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 to be lost on Beijing. In other technology fields where workers hold a knowledge advantage, the government hasn't been afraid of asking them to return home. The authorities have already reportedly restricted travel for some of DeepSeek's employees.

Instead of cracking down on immigration, US 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.