Researchers of Chinese Origin Dominate the World's Top AI Talent

Recent launch of DeepSeek AI model has brought to light the large and growing AI talent in China. The researchers working for the Chinese startup have shown that human creativity and problem-solving skills can overcome limitations such as access to high-performance hardware. It confirms that the most important resource needed for breakthroughs in AI is the human resource. 

The people of Chinese PRC origin account for 47% of the top 20% AI talent in the world based on undergraduate degree, according to a survey.  Americans make up 18%, Europeans 12% and Indians 5% of the global AI researchers. In terms of the countries they serve, 57% of them work in the United States, 12% in China, 8% in the UK, 4% each in France and Germany and 3% in Canada as of 2022. While the US still has the lion's share of the top talent, its share has declined from 65% in 2019 to 57% in 2022. Marco Polo talent tracker lists Pakistan among a dozen countries for top AI talent in Asia. 

Top Global AI Talent. Marco Polo AI Talent Tracker


More than half (15 out 25) of the institutions (companies and universities) where the top AI researchers work are located in the United States, while 6 are in China. The remaining four are in the UK, Switzerland, Singapore and Canada, according to Marco Polo Global AI Talent Tracker. 

Top AI Talent in Asia Pacific. Source: Marco Polo


The Chinese from PRC dominate the Asia Pacific region with 81.9% of the top AI talent. Indians account for 8.2%, South Korea 4% and "others" 5.8%.  "Others” include Taiwan, Australia, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Malaysia, Pakistan, Mongolia, and Sri Lanka. 

The fact that a number of large language models, including Chinese DeepSeek and Meta's Llama 3, are open source will help develop more global AI talent and spur greater innovation around the world. In the end, it is much more likely that the open source offerings will see greater success than the closed source models like OpenAI's.  


Comments

Riaz Haq said…
Top China chipmaker SMIC says tariff war sparking 'rush orders'

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tech/Semiconductors/Top-China-chipmaker-SMIC-says-tariff-war-sparking-rush-orders

TAIPEI -- China's top chipmaker says clients are stockpiling inventory and asking to move up delivery of orders scheduled for later in the year due to concerns over U.S. tariffs and broader geopolitical tensions.

Zhao Haijun, co-CEO of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., told investors and reporters on Wednesday that his company has seen a rush in orders in the first two quarters of 2025.

"We see many [customers] want to ship the products to their export destinations as soon as possible, so they are building up inventories for the second half or even the full year. ... They are hoping to prepare as many parts for their products in advance as soon as possible," Zhao said. "Currently the ocean shipping is very crowded to fulfill all these rush orders as well. ... But we don't know how long this could last, given the dynamics of global uncertainties."

U.S. President Donald Trump has started a broad tariff war against China and other nations, including imposing an additional 10% blanket tariff on Chinese imports.

Zhao said a rapid acceleration of local chip production has raised SMIC's revenue to a record level, but warned of a price war and tariff uncertainties in the second half of 2025.

Efforts to boost local production in critical areas, including automotive applications, are bearing fruit, with some chip products now being produced in large volumes.

China has instructed domestic carmakers, including BYD, to use up to 25% locally made automotive chips to boost local self-sufficiency, Nikkei Asia reported earlier.

The industry reoriented toward the domestic supply chain at "a relatively rapid pace," Zhao said. "Our Chinese customers' market share expanded, and revenue from these customers grew 34%, year over year."

Beijing's economic stimulus measures have also encouraged clients to restock chips used in products like smartphones, notebooks, electric vehicles and bicycles, he said. "Our 8-inch wafer capacity is running at full utilization, beating the traditional seasonality for the first quarter."

"However, we are worried that the rush orders for the first half of this year would result in soft demand in the second half, when many peers will have new capacity go online at the same time," Zhao said. "That means there might be intensified price competition to fight for orders later in the year. ... The trend for the price is unclear for the second half, but it will not go up."

SMIC estimates its 2025 annual revenue will grow 6% to 8%, higher than the industry average in the same markets.

It plans capital investment in 2025 on a similar level as last year's $7.3 billion, much higher than its foreign contract chipmaking peers, such as United Microelectronics Corp.

SMIC's revenue for the last quarter of 2024 rose 31.5% to $2.2 billion, with operating profit nearly doubling from a year earlier. However, its net profit declined 38.4% to $108 million compared with the same period the previous year. The chipmaker attributed this to higher expenses from the startup of new plants.

Its full-year revenue for 2024 was $8.03 billion, up 27% from 2023, with net profit down 45%.

American rival Globalfoundries reported a net loss on Wednesday for the quarter ended Dec. 31. Its full-year revenue came to $6.75 billion, with a net loss of $262 million.

Nearly 90% of SMIC's revenue from the last quarter of 2024 came from China. The figure for the full year was 85%.
February 12, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Riaz Haq said…
China’s Quantum Leap: The 504-Qubit ‘Xiaohong’ Chip Changes Everything – Engineerine

https://engineerine.com/china-504-qubit-xiaohong-chip/

China has just shattered records in quantum computing with the launch of Tianyan-504, a superconducting quantum computer powered by the Xiaohong chip. With an unprecedented 504 qubits, this marks a major milestone in the global quantum race, putting China in direct competition with tech giants like IBM and Google.

Quantum computing is one of the most revolutionary advancements in technology, with the potential to solve complex problems exponentially faster than traditional computers. From AI to cryptography, medical research, and national security, this breakthrough is a game-changer.

How does Tianyan-504 compare to global competitors, and what does it mean for the future of computing? Let’s break it down.

The Tianyan-504 is China’s most powerful quantum computer to date, developed using superconducting quantum technology. It is powered by the Xiaohong chip, an advanced 504-qubit processor, making it one of the most powerful quantum machines in the world.


Key Features of Tianyan-504:
Record-Breaking 504 Qubits – China’s highest-qubit quantum processor to date.
Superconducting Quantum Technology – Uses extremely cold temperatures to minimize errors and improve qubit stability.
Cloud-Accessible – Available for remote use in 50+ countries via China Telecom.
Rivaling IBM and Google – Competing directly with IBM’s Eagle (433 qubits) and Google’s Sycamore (72 qubits).
With this cutting-edge technology, China has positioned itself as a dominant force in the global quantum race.

Unlike traditional computers that use binary bits (0s and 1s), quantum computers use qubits, which can exist in multiple states simultaneously due to superposition and entanglement. This allows quantum computers to perform massively parallel calculations, solving problems that classical computers would take thousands of years to process.

How the Xiaohong Chip Works:
Qubits Operate in Superposition – This allows them to perform multiple calculations at once.
Quantum Entanglement – Qubits communicate instantaneously, boosting computing efficiency.
Error Correction Mechanisms – Advanced superconducting circuits reduce quantum errors, making calculations more accurate.

Why Is This a Big Deal?
Key Implications of Tianyan-504:
AI and Machine Learning – Quantum computing could train AI models thousands of times faster, accelerating breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.
Cybersecurity and Cryptography – Quantum computers have the power to break traditional encryption, making current security protocols obsolete.
Drug Discovery and Healthcare – Quantum simulations could develop new medicines and treatments at an unprecedented pace.
Climate and Energy Solutions – Quantum algorithms can optimize energy grids, simulate climate models, and enhance battery technology.
National Security and Defense – Quantum advancements could give China an edge in intelligence, surveillance, and secure communications.
By leading in quantum computing, China is gaining a strategic advantage across multiple industries.
February 12, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pakistani Women's Growing Particpation in Workforce

Image
While Fareed Zakaria, Nick Kristoff and other talking heads are still stuck on the old stereotypes of Muslim women, the status of women in Muslim societies is rapidly changing, and there is a silent social revolution taking place with rising number of women joining the workforce and moving up the corporate ladder in Pakistan. "More of them(women) than ever are finding employment, doing everything from pumping gasoline and serving burgers at McDonald’s to running major corporations", says a report in the latest edition of Businessweek magazine . Beyond company or government employment, there are a number of NGOs focused on encouraging self-employment and entrepreneurship among Pakistani women by offering skills training and microfinancing . Kashf Foundation led by a woman CEO and BRAC are among such NGOs. They all report that the success and repayment rate among female borrowers is significantly higher than among male borrowers. In rural Sindh, the PPP-led govern...
Read more

Pakistan's Saadia Zahidi Leads World Economic Forum's Gender Parity Effort

Image
Pakistan-born, Harvard-educated economist Ms. Saadia Zahidi, author of "50 Million Rising" , is currently a member of the executive committee and the head of Education, Gender and Work at the World Economic Forum , Davos, Switzerland. She told Kai Ryssdal of APR Marketplace of her visit to a gas field in Pakistan with her geophysicist father where she met Nazia, a woman engineer who inspired her. Saadia Zahidi The "50 Million" in the title of her book refers to the 50 million Muslim women who have joined the work force over the last 15 years bringing the total number of working women in the Muslim world to about 155 million. In her book, Saadia talks about her father being the first in his family to go to university. He believed in girls' education and career opportunities. She recalls him suggesting that "my sister could become a pilot because the Pakistan Air Force had just starting to train women. Another time he speculated that I could become a...
Read more

Pakistan Among World's Largest Food Producing Countries

Image
Pakistan's agriculture output is the 10th largest in the world. The country produces large and growing quantities of cereals, meat, milk, fruits and vegetables. Currently, Pakistan produces about 38 million tons of cereals (mainly wheat, rice and corn), 17 million tons of fruits and vegetables, 70 million tons of sugarcane, 60 million tons of milk and 4.5 million tons of meat.  Total value of the nation's agricultural output exceeds $50 billion.  Improving agriculture inputs and modernizing value chains can help the farm sector become much more productive to serve both domestic and export markets.   Top 10 Countries by Agriculture Output. Source: FAO Pakistan has about 36 million hectares of land under cultivation. Wheat and rice are grown on more than half of it. Fruits and vegetables each account for only about 3% of the cultivable land.  Since year 2001, the country's cereal production, mainly wheat, corn and rice, has grown about 45% to  38 million tons...
Read more