在NeurIPS 2025（全球三大AI会议之一）上，中国研究者与企业高度显眼，反映美中研究共同体的深度联结及其政治风险。大会约25,000名与会者，较2015年增长逾6倍；论文投稿同比增长38%至21,575篇，录用5,290篇（录用率约24.5%）。按被录用论文作者所属机构统计，Tsinghua University居首，Google第二，Peking University与University of Chinese Academy of Sciences分列其后；Alibaba团队主导的Qwen系列研究亦入选顶尖论文。
美国机构对中国背景人才依赖显著：Paulson Institute研究称，2022年美国组织中顶尖AI研究者里有38%毕业于中国高校。Carnegie Endowment高级研究员Matt Sheehan跟踪2019年在美国机构任职且论文被NeurIPS接收的100名中国研究者，到2025年仍有87人在美国，10人回国，3人去往其他地区，体现美国对顶尖研究者的吸附力。但随着美中AI紧张升级，Donald Trump政府收紧移民与国际学生签证，并开始撤销与共产党有关联的中国学生签证，增加留美不确定性。
个人层面呈现分化：University of Texas at Austin的博士生担忧政策冲击，提及O-1“杰出人才”签证或较安全；University of Florida一名研究具军事用途传感器的中国学生在永久居留与赴美防务科技公司之间摇摆；Princeton学生则认为在中国也能做AI前沿，倾向考虑ByteDance等。Sheehan指出，5到10年前前沿AI机会主要在美国，而到2025年中国前沿岗位“很多”；一名德州博士生观察其圈子“70%留美、30%回国”。回流者已主导中国AI：Moonshot AI CEO Yang Zhilin在Carnegie Mellon University获博士后回国创业；OpenAI研究员Yao Shunyu转至Tencent任chief AI scientist。Sheehan估计中国研究者贡献占美国AI研究约1/4至1/3，主张应更便利博士学历中国公民在美工作。
Chinese researchers and companies were highly visible at NeurIPS 2025 (one of the world’s top three AI conferences), highlighting deep US–China research ties and rising political risk. The conference drew roughly 25,000 attendees, more than 6× the 2015 figure; paper submissions rose 38% year over year to 21,575, with 5,290 accepted (about a 24.5% acceptance rate). By accepted-paper author affiliation, Tsinghua University ranked No. 1, Google No. 2, followed by Peking University and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; a top paper was led by Alibaba’s team developing the Qwen LLM family.
US organizations rely heavily on China-trained talent: a Paulson Institute study found 38% of top AI researchers at US organizations in 2022 graduated from Chinese universities. Carnegie Endowment fellow Matt Sheehan tracked 100 Chinese researchers at US organizations with NeurIPS-accepted papers in 2019; by 2025, 87 were still in the US, 10 had returned to China, and 3 had moved elsewhere, suggesting strong US retention. Yet escalating AI tensions add instability as President Donald Trump’s administration tightens visa issuance and begins revoking visas of Chinese students with Communist Party ties.
Individual accounts show a split: a University of Texas at Austin doctoral student worried about policy shifts, noting O-1 “extraordinary ability” holders may be safer; a University of Florida student working on military-relevant sensors debated pursuing permanent residency versus US defense-tech jobs; a Princeton student argued frontier AI work is possible in China and considered ByteDance. Sheehan said that 5–10 years ago frontier opportunities largely required moving to the US, but by 2025 China offers many; one Texas student estimated 70% of peers stay in the US while 30% return. Returnees already lead efforts in China, including Moonshot AI CEO Yang Zhilin (PhD, Carnegie Mellon) and OpenAI researcher Yao Shunyu moving to Tencent as chief AI scientist; Sheehan put Chinese researchers’ share of US AI research at roughly one-quarter to one-third.