China now hosts more elite AI researchers than the US, study finds

A Carnegie China study found that 41% of top AI researchers worked in China in 2025 versus 34% in the US, reversing the 2022 split of 27% and 46%. The analysis covered authors of 5,823 papers accepted at NeurIPS 2025.

• 41% of elite AI researchers work in China, 34% in the US
• In 2022 the US share was 46% and China's 27%
• 57% earned their first degree in China, up from 46% in 2022
• Peking University and Tsinghua top employers; Google led in 2022