China is pulling ahead of the US in the global race for elite AI talent, luring a larger share of the world’s top researchers in a stunning reversal from just three years ago, according to a new study out of the communist nation.
China hired 41% of the world’s leading AI researchers in 2025, compared with 34% who went to US companies, according to think tank Carnegie China, a China-based branch of the US-based nonprofit Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The numbers purportedly flipped dramatically from 2022, when the US pulled 46% of the top researchers compared with China’s 27%.
The US is lagging even further behind when it comes to producing the elite human capital fueling the AI race, the study claimed.
A whopping 57% of elite AI researchers in 2025 had earned their undergraduate degrees in China, compared with just 13% who received their bachelor’s degrees in the US. In 2022, only 11% of elite AI talent had completed their undergraduate studies in China, according to the study.
Elite AI researchers were described in the study as academics and engineers whose papers were accepted by the prestigious NeurIPS — the same methodology used by the think tank Macro Polo.
Part of the trend shift is fueled by China’s biggest AI companies such as DeepSeek and MoonShotAI — which are now offering comparable salaries to Silicon Valley, the South China Morning Post reported.
Industry insiders warned that China’s growth should prompt the US to double down on attracting the world’s best talent.
“China should not be underestimated. It is producing an extraordinary share of the world’s AI researchers and PhDs, and it is a formidable, extremely well-financed competitor,” said Lior Prosor, partner at deep-tech venture fund Deep33.
Prosor noted, however, that the US shouldn’t lose sight of its own strengths.
“But America has an advantage China has not been able to replicate the ability to attract the best talent domestically and from everywhere else in the world and put it to work,” he said.
“That combination of global talent, deep private capital and a highly competitive entrepreneurial environment remains the core of America’s AI advantage. That is an enormous strategic asset, and it is exactly what America should be heavily doubling down on.”
