Home province of DeepSeek, Moonshot founders seeks to retain, attract future AI talent

Guangdong province in southern China is making concerted efforts to retain and attract top AI talent from Tsinghua University, following the departure of two prominent founders to Beijing. Notably, Moonshot AI founder Yang Zhilin and DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng both returned to China to launch their ventures in Beijing and Hangzhou, respectively.

Guangdong, home to Guangzhou and Shenzhen, currently holds 10 out of the top 50 AI companies in China, with Beijing leading the nation with 19. This disparity is attributed to Guangdong's weaker scientific and educational foundation compared to Beijing and the Yangtze River Delta, according to experts. To address this, the province organized a tour highlighting its top technology assets such as the National Supercomputer Centre in Guangzhou and the autonomous driving giant Pony AI.

Visitors engaged in discussions on navigating US export restrictions and leveraging prestigious Tsinghua degrees for venture capital credibility. Local entrepreneurs argue that Guangdong's fewer competing businesses and world-class advanced manufacturing base can provide bigger local support and more diverse AI application scenarios.

The province is further bolstering these strengths with financial incentives, including a 10 million yuan subsidy for select entrepreneurs in Guangzhou and a 8-article incentive plan to subsidize token usage of up to 5 million yuan per company in Haizhu district. These measures, combined with the soaring living costs in traditional tech capitals, are increasingly appealing to young engineers considering their post-graduation plans.