Study: China is struggling to attract foreign AI talent; for every 30 Chinese AI researchers in the US in 2025, only one in China made the opposite journey

If you're looking to hire top AI researchers, China's output means more talent is staying there, making international recruitment for China-based roles more competitive.

A 2025 study by Carnegie China, using data from the NeurIPS conference, reveals significant disparities in the global AI talent race, particularly between the United States and China. While China produces the largest number of elite AI researchers, with 57% of those studied holding undergraduate degrees from China, the United States remains a strong magnet for global talent. In 2025, the US saw a net gain of 2,145 AI researchers, while China experienced a net loss of 1,729. Despite increasing retention rates in China, the flow of talent between the two nations is predominantly one-way, with approximately 30 Chinese-origin AI researchers in the US for every one US-origin researcher in China. Asia ex-China, specifically South Korea and Singapore, shows notable growth in AI talent, while Europe continues to falter. The study sampled over 10,000 authors from NeurIPS 2025 papers, examining their complete career paths.

The research indicates a critical challenge for China in attracting foreign AI talent, evidenced by the stark 30:1 ratio of Chinese researchers in the US versus US researchers in China. This one-way flow, despite increased talent retention within China, suggests that factors beyond domestic industry growth, such as visa restrictions and potentially research environment differences, are shaping global AI talent mobility. The US continues to leverage its position as a global hub, drawing top minds and maintaining a net gain, while China, despite its large talent pool, struggles to reciprocate this inflow.

The findings underscore a bifurcating global AI talent landscape. While the US excels at attracting and retaining international expertise, China leads in producing AI talent but faces significant hurdles in drawing it back or attracting external talent. This dynamic impacts the competitive strategies of both nations, potentially concentrating cutting-edge AI development in the US while China focuses on leveraging its domestic pool. The diminishing presence of European institutions in top rankings also signals a broader consolidation of AI talent leadership among a few key players.