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

Guangdong province in southern China is actively working to retain and attract future AI talent, following the departure of two prominent AI founders from the region. The province welcomed 39 computer science students from Tsinghua University, part of a targeted push to bridge the gap in China's AI race. Despite co-founding Moonshot AI and DeepSeek, both founders chose to launch their ventures in Beijing and Zhejiang, respectively.

Guangdong struggles to compete with Beijing and Shanghai, which lead in AI companies, while second-tier cities like Hangzhou are gaining ground with thriving tech firms. Experts attribute this disparity to Guangdong's weaker academic talent foundation compared to northern hubs. To counter this, Guangdong organized a tour highlighting its top technology assets, such as the National Supercomputer Centre in Guangzhou and autonomous driving firm Pony AI.

Local entrepreneurs argued that Guangdong's smaller number of competitors could mean more personalized support from the government. The province offers financial incentives, such as subsidies for entrepreneurs and talent. Haizhu district in Guangzhou even launched an 8-article incentive plan to subsidize company token usage. Despite these efforts, young engineers are increasingly drawn to Beijing and Guangdong due to lower living costs compared to traditional tech capitals.