China may move toward U.S. path on AI as firms poach employees - CNBC

Ah, the U.S.-China AI race just got a new player: Yao Shunyu, a former OpenAI researcher who has decamped to Tencent as chief AI scientist with the modest ambition of building AGI. Because nothing says 'responsible development' like moving the goal from 'alignment' to 'global supremacy' via talent poaching. CNBC reports that China is now actively luring ex-OpenAI staff, presumably because if you can't beat 'em, hire 'em. The irony is exquisite: the same lab that warned about catastrophic risks is now a recruiting ground for a state-backed rival.

Yao's declared aim to achieve AGI at Tencent is a direct challenge to OpenAI's mission, but let's not pretend this is about scientific curiosity. This is about who gets to define the rules of the game. China's AI firms are reportedly offering salaries that would make Silicon Valley blush, and the exodus of talent is accelerating. The US spent years worrying about China catching up on hardware; turns out the soft underbelly is the researchers themselves. And what's the American response? A few grumpy op-eds and a half-hearted executive order that'll be forgotten by lunch.

So here we are: the world's two biggest economies locked in a talent war for the people most likely to build something we can't control. And the chap who left OpenAI for Tencent says he'll 'open-source AGI if it's safe' — which is about as reassuring as a parachute packed by a three-year-old. The irony is that the US created the environment where AI talent flourishes, then promptly forgot to make them stay. China just needed to offer a bigger pot of gold and the promise of fewer ethics committees. We're in for a glorious race to the bottom.