An article about China’s AI chasing young talent went viral: 20-year-old founders, 18-year-old employees, 19-year-old investors, top interns earning thousands per day, and a fresh graduate potentially commanding the high salary once reserved for senior engineers

But the overseas sample is also very telling——the median work experience of Anthropic engineers before joining is 12.2 years, and 44% have more than 13 years of experience.

China’s AI pursuit of youth certainly has its reasons, but it is also creating a deep anxiety: the dividends are concentrating in an ever smaller circle, while the anxiety is spreading to an ever larger population.