According to a study by the Paulson Institute, 38% of top AI researchers at US organizations in 2022 had graduated from Chinese universities. Sheehan followed the careers of 100 Chinese researchers affiliated with US organizations who had papers accepted at NeurIPS in 2019. But as tensions between the US and China over AI escalate, Chinese students and researchers are in an increasingly unstable position. “If so, it makes more sense to go to Chinese companies right away.”Chinese players see the situation as an opportunity to bring back talented Chinese graduates of US universities. “Five or ten years ago, if you wanted to do the best AI research, you had to come to the United States,” Sheehan said.