Nearly half of top AI researchers studied in China
Share of top-tier AI researchers by country of undergraduate degree, 2022 versus 2019.
- 1. China leads research in 57 of 64 critical technologies
- 2. China's international patent filings grew sixfold since 2010
- 3. Nearly half of top AI researchers studied in China
- 4. China's research spending rose from 12% to 88% of America's
- 5. China spends more importing chips than crude oil
- 6. Four tech giants spent $358 billion on infrastructure in 2025
- 7. Two in three working satellites are now Starlinks
- 8. Irish data centres now use more power than city homes
- 9. Indians now file more patents at home than Germans
- 10. India published more science papers than Germany and Britain combined
- 11. Brazilians now use Pix more often than all cards combined
- 12. Poland's digital service exports grew fivefold in a decade
Of top-tier AI researchers did their first degree in China in 2022, up from 29% in 2019.
Came from US undergraduate programmes, down from 20%. Europe fell from 17% to 12%.
In 2022, institutions in China employed 28% of top-tier AI researchers, up from 11%; the US share fell from 59% to 42%.
the numbers & method
| Undergraduate origin (%) | 2019 (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| China | 47 | 29 |
| United States | 18 | 20 |
| Europe | 12 | 17 |
| India | 5 | 8 |
| South Korea | 2 | 2 |
Claim types Fact
Sample: authors of papers accepted at NeurIPS 2022, MacroPolo's proxy for the top ~20% of AI researchers; a narrow definition of 'AI talent'. Published March 2024. Percentages are as quoted from the tracker by Gigazine, Asia Economy and MIT Technology Review (the tracker shows them as chart images). Workplace shares (US 42%, China 28%) are cited for 2022; other regions' workplace shares were not verifiable and are not shown. Among top-tier researchers working at US institutions, 38% did undergrad in China and 37% in the US.
Published 4 Oct 2026
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