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The new frontier in the US-China AI race: Talent
🇸🇬 Singapore /Technology

The new frontier in the US-China AI race: Talent

From CNA · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Will Wang, a former Apple engineer, founded a Shenzhen-based smart glasses startup, citing a shift in Silicon Valley away from hardware innovation.
  • The global AI race is increasingly focused on talent, with both the U.S. and China viewing engineers as strategic resources.
  • Talent flow between the U.S. and China is becoming more complex, leading to a selective and politically charged pattern of innovation.

Will Wang, who previously worked on the Apple Watch team, left Silicon Valley in 2018 to build hardware, eventually founding Shenzhen-based smart glasses startup Even Realities in 2023. He explained that Silicon Valley no longer rewards hardware development, having shifted its focus to software, data, and now artificial intelligence. Wang believes China offers the necessary engineers, supply chains, and manufacturing ecosystems for AI hardware innovation.

Silicon Valley doesn't really (reward) making hardware anymore.

— Will WangExplaining his decision to leave Apple and focus on hardware innovation in China.

Wang's decision highlights a significant shift in the global AI race, where talent is now considered a strategic resource alongside semiconductors and computing power. For decades, talent moved freely between China and the U.S., but this flow is now complicated by increased scrutiny over technology transfers and intense competition for elite AI engineers.

If I wanted to (lead) in AI, I needed to be in Silicon Valley. But if I want to innovate in hardware, I need to be located in the heart of hardware.

— Will WangContrasting the focus of innovation in Silicon Valley versus China.

Experts note that the contest is no longer solely about who develops the best AI models, but also about where top researchers and engineers choose to work. Interviews with founders and recruiters suggest a more selective and politically influenced pattern of talent movement is emerging, potentially reshaping innovation dynamics between the two AI powerhouses. This contrasts with the earlier "brain circulation" phenomenon, where Chinese scientists and engineers gained experience in the U.S. before returning to build their own tech ecosystems.

America's AI advantage has been institutionally American but demographically global.

— Li YaqiDescribing the global nature of talent in the U.S. AI sector.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by CNA. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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