A look at citations in academic research reveals the growing clout of Chinese researchers. One study by Sinovation Ventures examined citations in the top one hundred AI journals and conferences from 2006 to 2015; it found that the percentage of papers by authors with Chinese names nearly doubled from 23.2 percent to 42.8 percent during that time. T

A recent tally of citations at global research institutions confirmed the trend. That ranking of the one hundred most-cited research institutions on AI from 2012 to 2016 showed China ranking second only to the United States. Among the elite institutions, Tsinghua University even outnumbered places like Stanford University in total AI citations. The

In a recent ranking compiled by a group of Chinese scholars, all but three of the twenty highest-rated universities in the world were located in the United States.

While America still dominates when it comes to superstar researchers, Chinese companies and research institutions have filled their ranks with the kind of well-trained engineers that can power this era of AI deployment.

China is now second only to the United States in AI investment. But the quality of actual AI research, especially in the field of generative AI, has been hindered by government censorship and a lack of indigenous intellectual property. In fact, many of the Chinese AI startups that have taken advantage of the strong government support are producing