South Korean Media: Half of the World's Top AI Talent Comes from China!
On May 2, South Korea's Chosun Ilbo published an article stating that analysis shows China has far outpaced the United States in the global competition for top-tier AI talent. This conclusion is based on an analysis of data from the "Global AI Talent Tracker Report" released by MacroPolo, a research arm of the Paulson Institute in the U.S., as well as an examination of the nationalities and institutions affiliated with authors who published outstanding papers at NeurIPS—the premier conference widely regarded as the top venue in AI.
The proportion of China's top AI talent has already exceeded half of the global total, surpassing the combined total of all other regions including the United States, Europe, and Asia (excluding China). Moreover, among the top ten universities producing leading AI authors, nine are Chinese institutions. This indicates a clear shift of the global AI talent hub from the United States to China.
Recently, the British weekly magazine The Economist reported findings from a survey and analysis based on Macropolo’s global AI talent tracking data released in 2020 and 2024, along with a detailed investigation into the nationalities, universities, and workplaces of over 4,000 top paper authors at the 2025 NeurIPS conference.
The analysis reveals that approximately half of the authors ranked in the top 20% globally for AI-related publications are from China. In 2019, Chinese AI talent accounted for about 29% of the global AI workforce; by 2025, this figure rose to 51%. In contrast, during the same period, the share of American AI talent declined from 20% to 12%. The proportions of AI talent from Europe, India, and Canada also decreased, while the share of Asian talent excluding China remained stable at 18%.
The center of academic competitiveness has also shifted toward China. According to the author composition of papers accepted at the 2025 NeurIPS conference, the top ten universities by author count were all Chinese institutions—ranking first through ninth. The only American university represented was MIT, ranking tenth. The Economist noted: “Tsinghua University leads with a 4% share of authors, while MIT ranks tenth with just 1%. Tsinghua’s publication volume is roughly four times that of MIT.”
The United States is widely recognized as the world leader in AI, both in terms of market size and technological advancement. However, research reveals that the U.S. AI industry is heavily reliant on Chinese talent. A survey found that about 35% of researchers working in U.S. research institutions hold degrees from Chinese universities—a proportion nearly equal to that of U.S.-born graduates from American institutions. The Economist pointed out: “About half of the members of Meta’s recently launched ‘Super Intelligence Lab’ are from China; among the development team behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT 5.0, 15% hold Chinese academic degrees.”
It is expected that China’s advantage in AI talent will continue to grow in the coming years. The characteristics of China’s active AI talent are also evolving. The proportion of Chinese AI professionals choosing to remain in China after completing their undergraduate studies—instead of going abroad to countries like the U.S.—has risen from 30% in 2019 to 68% in 2025. Similarly, the proportion of returnees from overseas studies has increased from 12% in 2019 to 28% in 2025.
This trend is driven by China’s proactive efforts in attracting AI talent through high salaries, generous research funding, housing subsidies, and other preferential policies. The Economist stated: “If current trends continue, China’s active AI talent pool is projected to be about twice that of the United States by around 2028.”
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1864076642573388/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author