China overtakes US as top workplace for elite AI researchers, study finds
Por Chong Ming Lee — South China Morning Post – News feed
Advertisement Artificial intelligence Tech Tech Trends China overtakes US as top workplace for elite AI researchers, study finds
The country is retaining a growing share of top-tier talent amid a booming domestic AI industry and tighter US visa restrictions
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Chong Ming Lee Published: 8:30pm, 25 Sep 2026
For China’s elite artificial intelligence researchers, Silicon Valley no longer holds the unrivalled appeal it once did.
A growing number are opting to stay home to build their careers, helping China overtake the United States as the leading workplace for top-tier AI talent, according to a study released this week by the think tank Carnegie China.
China employed 41 per cent of the world’s leading AI researchers tracked by the study last year, pulling ahead of the US at 34 per cent, according to the study titled “Who’s ahead in the global AI talent race”. That marked a reversal from 2022, when the US held a commanding lead with 46 per cent compared with China’s 27 per cent.
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