According to a September 2026 study by Carnegie China, the country hosted 41% of the world’s top AI researchers in 2025, up from 27% in 2022. During the same period, the US share of elite researchers declined from 46% to 34%.
Retention of domestic talent has also increased, with 69% of Chinese undergraduate degree holders remaining in the country in 2025, compared to 57% in 2022. Research from Stanford’s Hoover Institution and HAI indicates that 53.5% of authors at DeepSeek have never worked or studied abroad.
Among DeepSeek researchers who gained experience in the US, over 70% returned to China. Despite this growth, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security estimates a national talent gap exceeding 5 million professionals in the AI sector.
DeepSeek plans to double its department sizes by mid-2026. While the lab is open to hiring foreign researchers, it requires candidates to speak Chinese. Other barriers include geopolitical tensions and rising anti-foreign sentiment.
