US-China collaboration in AI papers drops amid ongoing tech war

rtificial intelligence (AI) papers co-authored by US and China-based researchers declined last year amid rising geopolitical tensions between the world’s two largest economies, according to a recent Stanford report.

In 2021, approximately 9,660 papers on AI were co-authored by researchers affiliated with both US and Chinese institutions, down from above 10,000 the year before, according to a report by the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence.

The relationship between the two nations has soured in recent years, with a move towards decoupling that has left scientists caught in the middle. Some US-based Chinese researchers have been accused of intellectual property theft, while American schools, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, have cut research ties with Chinese tech firms like Huawei Technologies Co and iFlyTek.

Nonetheless, AI cooperation between China and the US still leads the world, increasing five times since 2010, the Stanford report said. In 2021, the two countries produced 2.7 times more AI papers between them than the United Kingdom and China – the second highest on the list.

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