Can China Compete in the AI Talent War?

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

- CATHERINE THORBECKE

The competition for AI talent prompted 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 United States (US) 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. 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 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, 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.