The Battle for China's AI Experts

Chinese Talent Is Shaping Global AI Development — and American Tech Giants Are Fighting for It 🖥️

Word of the week: 挖角 (wā jiǎo)

Meaning: literally "dig the corner”, to lure away a key person or poach a talent

Earlier this month, Mark Zuckerberg announced his “Meta Superintelligence Labs” — a real-life AI Avengers squad made up of top talent poached from other companies, including OpenAI.

According to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Zuckerberg offered recruits signing bonuses of up to $100 million. One particularly interesting detail? Nearly everyone on Zuckerberg’s “AI dream team” is Chinese or of Chinese descent.

Chinese media did not fail to take note of this fact. Let’s see what they write about the AI brain drain:

在AI人才争夺战中，扎克伯格近期展开的系列操作堪称教科书级案例。

继以148亿美元重金将95后华裔天才亚历山大王（Alexandr Wang）创办的Scale AI 纳入麾下后，这位Meta掌门人迅速启动战略升级——两周内突然宣布成立“Meta超级智能实验室”（MSL），整合旗下FAIR研究团队与Llama模型开发组等核心AI资源，并直接委派Wang全权执掌实验室。

• 人才争夺战 (réncái zhēngduózhàn) – talent war, talent competition

• 扎克伯格 (zhā kè bó gé) – Mark Zuckerberg (transliteration of his name)

• 操作 (cāozuò) – operation, maneuver, action

• 教科书级 (jiàokēshū jí) – textbook-level, exemplary

• 重金 (zhòngjīn) – a large sum of money

• 华裔 (huáyì) – person of Chinese descent

• 纳入麾下 (nàrù huīxià) – bring under one's command, incorporate under one’s leadership

• 掌门人 (zhǎngménrén) – leader, head (of an organization)

• 战略升级 (zhànlüè shēngjí) – strategic upgrade

• 超级智能实验室 (chāojí zhìnéng shíyànshì) – super intelligence laboratory

• 整合 (zhěnghé) – to integrate

• 旗下 (qíxià) – under (an organization’s) umbrella

• 模型开发组 (móxíng kāifā zǔ) – model development group

• 委派 (wěipài) – to appoint, to assign

• 全权 (quánquán) – full authority, plenipotentiary

• 执掌 (zhízhǎng) – to take charge of, to be in command of

In the battle for AI talent, Mark Zuckerberg's recent moves can be described as textbook examples.

After acquiring Scale AI, founded by the young Chinese-American prodigy Alexandr Wang, for a hefty $14.8 billion, the Meta CEO swiftly launched a strategic upgrade — within two weeks, he suddenly announced the establishment of the "Meta Super Intelligence Lab" (MSL). This new lab integrates key AI resources, including the FAIR research team and the Llama model development group, and Wang has been given full authority to lead the lab.

Photo: finance.sina.com.cn

而这个豪华实验室的核心人才，都是扎克伯格从OpenAI挖过来的。

据知情人士透露，Meta通过闪电战式招募从OpenAI连夜签下8名顶尖华人AI学者，且均为多模态模型、语音交互、强化学习等战略领域的技术骨干，传闻有1亿美元报酬（现金+股票），但并未。

• 豪华 (háohuá) – luxurious, top-tier

• 核心人才 (héxīn réncái) – core talent

• 挖过来 (wā guòlái) – to poach (talent), to headhunt

• 知情人士 (zhīqíng rénshì) – insider, informed source

• 闪电战式 (shǎndiànzhàn shì) – blitzkrieg-style, lightning-fast

• 招募 (zhāomù) – to recruit, to enlist

• 连夜 (liányè) – overnight, without delay

• 顶尖 (dǐngjiān) – top, elite

• 多模态模型 (duō mótài móxíng) – multimodal model

• 语音交互 (yǔyīn jiāohù) – voice interaction

• 强化学习 (qiánghuà xuéxí) – reinforcement learning

• 技术骨干 (jìshù gǔgàn) – key technical personnel, technical backbone

• 传闻 (chuánwén) – rumor

• 报酬 (bàochóu) – remuneration, reward, compensation

• 股票 (gǔpiào) – stock

According to insiders, Meta carried out a blitzkrieg-style recruitment, signing eight top Chinese AI scholars from OpenAI overnight. All of them are key technical experts in strategic fields such as multimodal models, voice interaction, and reinforcement learning. Rumor has it that the compensation package reached $100 million (in cash and stock), though this figure has not been officially confirmed.

扎克伯格亲自推行“CEO直聘”模式：其不仅亲自梳理全球顶尖AI研究员名单，更在加州的私人住所与候选人直接会面，甚至为关键人才开辟免面试的“绿色通道”。

值得注意的是，这场由扎克伯格亲自操盘的人才争夺战，已引发行业连锁反应：谷歌、英伟达等科技巨头正以惊人投入加入战局，而全球AI竞争的核心焦点，正逐渐聚焦于华人AI技术人才群体。

• 推行 (tuīxíng) – to implement, to carry out

• 直聘 (zhí pìn) – direct recruitment

• 梳理 (shūlǐ) – to comb through, to sort out

• 私人住所 (sīrén zhùsuǒ) – private residence

• 候选人 (hòuxuǎnrén) – candidate

• 开辟 (kāipì) – to open up, to create

• 免面试 (miǎn miànshì) – exempt from interview

• 绿色通道 (lǜsè tōngdào) – fast track, green channel

• 操盘 (cāopán) – to direct operations, to orchestrate

• 连锁反应 (liánsuǒ fǎnyìng) – chain reaction

• 科技巨头 (kējì jùtóu) – tech giant

• 战局 (zhànjú) – battle, situation in a conflict

• 聚焦 (jùjiāo) – to focus on

• 技术人才群体 (jìshù réncái qúntǐ) – technical talent group

Zuckerberg has personally implemented a “CEO direct recruitment” model: not only did he personally compile a list of the world’s top AI researchers, but he also met with candidates directly at his private residences in Palo Alto and Lake Tahoe, even creating a “fast track” that waived interviews for key talent.

It is worth noting that this talent war, personally orchestrated by Zuckerberg, has already triggered a chain reaction in the industry: tech giants such as Google and NVIDIA are now joining the battle with astonishing investments. As a result, the global competition for AI talent is increasingly centering around Chinese AI experts.

全球疯抢中国AI顶尖人才。此次扎克伯格的“挖角”行动引人注目——从OpenAI挖走的华人学者，均来自清华大学、北京大学等国内顶尖高校，且具备OpenAI、Google等科技巨头的核心算法经验——有人主导过ChatGPT研发，有人负责自动驾驶感知系统，堪称AI行业的“梦之队”。

• 疯抢 (fēng qiǎng) – frantically scramble for, fight over

• 挖角 (wājiǎo) – to poach (talent)

• 引人注目 (yǐn rén zhùmù) – eye-catching, attracting attention

• 清华大学 (qīnghuá dàxué) – Tsinghua University

• 北京大学 (běijīng dàxué) – Peking University

• 核心算法经验 (héxīn suànfǎ jīngyàn) – core algorithm experience

• 主导 (zhǔdǎo) – to lead, to take charge of

• 自动驾驶 (zìdòng jiàshǐ) – autonomous driving

• 感知系统 (gǎnzhī xìtǒng) – perception system

• 梦之队 (mèng zhī duì) – dream team

The global scramble for top Chinese AI talent is in full swing. Zuckerberg’s recent poaching campaign is particularly striking — the Chinese scholars recruited from OpenAI all hail from China’s top universities, such as Tsinghua University and Peking University, and possess core algorithm experience from tech giants like OpenAI and Google. Some have led the development of ChatGPT, while others were responsible for autonomous driving perception systems, forming what can only be described as a “dream team” in the AI industry.

Jensen Huang. Photo: finance.sina.com.cn

正如英伟达CEO黄仁勋所说：“全球50%的人工智能研究人员都来自中国；美国每个AI实验室都活跃着华人研究者身影，无一例外。”

马斯克在OpenAI陷入人才危机时高调宣布，将在本月发布Grok 4，并透露将构建专门编程模型。其xAI创始团队中，华人占比达三分之一。

全球AI芯片领域的“一哥”英伟达，其创始人黄仁勋最近也亲自下场抢人，悄悄招揽了两位华人AI大神。

• 正如 (zhèng rú) – just as, as

• 英伟达 (yīng wěi dá) – NVIDIA (transliteration)

• 黄仁勋 (huáng rén xūn) – Jensen Huang (transliteration of his Chinese name)

• 活跃 (huóyuè) – active, energetic

• 身影 (shēnyǐng) – figure, presence

• 无一例外 (wú yī lìwài) – without exception

• 马斯克 (mǎ sī kè) – Elon Musk (transliteration)

• 陷入 (xiànrù) – to fall into, to be caught in

• 高调 (gāodiào) – high-profile, publicly and loudly

• 构建 (gòujiàn) – to build, to construct

• 编程模型 (biānchéng móxíng) – programming model

• 创始团队 (chuàngshǐ tuánduì) – founding team

• 芯片 (xīnpiàn) – chip, semiconductor

• 一哥 (yī gē) – the top player, leader

• 下场 (xiàchǎng) – to personally join the competition

• 抢人 (qiǎng rén) – to compete for talent

• 悄悄 (qiāoqiāo) – quietly, secretly

• 招揽 (zhāolǎn) – to recruit, to attract

• 大神 (dàshén) – top expert, master (informal and admiring term)

As NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang put it: “50% of the world’s AI researchers are from China; every AI lab in the U.S. has Chinese researchers — without exception.”

When OpenAI fell into a talent crisis, Elon Musk made a high-profile announcement that he would release Grok 4 this month and revealed plans to build a dedicated programming model. In his xAI founding team, one-third of the members are Chinese.

NVIDIA, the global leader in AI chips, has also joined the race for talent. Its founder Jensen Huang personally got involved, quietly recruiting two top Chinese AI experts.

更令人警觉的是，顶尖人才持续流向海外——每年最顶尖的毕业生中，依然会有一部分最优秀的学生选择去美国继续进修。

这其中有很多原因，美国良好的研究环境，研究资金和研究自由，会吸引很多全球优秀的人才去进修，锻炼。我们不用责怪个人选择，而是应该反思国内高校的研究体系如何才能留住大量顶级的人才。

• 令人警觉 (lìng rén jǐngjué) – alarming, causing alertness

• 流向 (liúxiàng) – to flow to, to head toward

• 依然 (yīrán) – still, yet

• 优秀 (yōuxiù) – outstanding

• 进修 (jìnxiū) – further study, advanced studies

• 研究自由 (yánjiū zìyóu) – academic freedom

• 责怪 (zéguài) – to blame

• 反思 (fǎnsī) – to reflect on

• 国内高校 (guónèi gāoxiào) – domestic universities

• 留住 (liúzhù) – to retain

What is even more concerning is that top talent continues to flow overseas — every year, a portion of the most outstanding graduates still choose to pursue further studies in the United States.

There are many reasons for this: the strong research environment, abundant funding, and academic freedom in the U.S. attract top talent from around the world to further their studies and gain valuable experience. Rather than blaming individuals for their personal choices, we should reflect on how domestic universities can improve their research systems to retain large numbers of top-tier talent.

Antoine & Dorota

Referenced author(s): 搜狐科技