Britain Faces an AI Brain Drain as Tech Giants Raid Top Universities (telegraph.co.uk)

British outlet The Telegraph reports: Britain faces an artificial intelligence "brain drain" as Silicon Valley raids its top universities for talent, data compiled by The Telegraph shows. Around a third of leading machine learning and AI specialists who have left the UK's top institutions are currently working at Silicon Valley tech firms. More than a tenth have moved to North American universities and nearly a tenth are currently working for other smaller US companies. Meanwhile just one in seven have joined British start-ups.

Comments

Bad for Britain

[110010001000]

Britain is falling behind on Go-playing technology. Pretty soon they won't be able to compete in Go-playing tournaments. Definitely more government money needs to spent on funding British AI startups.

Brexit side effect?

[jellomizer]

I am wondering if this has to do with Brexit. Sure going to America isn't much better, but Americans get an other vote in 2 more years, to change direction. Brexit on the other hand is nearly as bad, but much more difficult to stop.

Tech firms in general are used to global collaboration, Brexit is making it more difficult for UK tech firms to do so.

Re:New Math?

[MegaThawt]

Your math may have missed the part that says "Around a third of leading machine learning and AI specialists who have left the UK’s top institutions are currently working at Silicon Valley tech firms." Brain Drain rate would be about 30%.

EU Research Funding Going, going...gone

[Roger W Moore]

I am wondering if this has to do with Brexit.

Almost certainly. The UK gets a huge slice of the EU research grant budget - far larger than its population would suggest - and the UK government has offered no replacement program yet that will provide the same amount of grants. If Brexit turns out to be a hard one I expect the numbers leaving will increase enormously.

The UK already has some of the lowest academic salaries out there (that was why I ended up leaving since I had a family to support) and they lack tenure - it was replaced by 5-year renewable contracts. Research funding was one of the big draws but if that goes away as well I expect there will be a flood of people leaving.

The brains left a long time ago

[pablo_max]

Seriously, I don't know if they are all trolls or what, but you ever read the comment sections on any of the British websites that have anything remotely to do with Brexit or the EU, I would say it is clear that the brains left the UK a long time ago and the island is inhabited purely by Trump loving psychopaths.
Some of the arguments those people make are literally retarded. I would say they have absolutely zero reasoning skills.

Paywalled. Summary is almost meaningless

[dcooper_db9]

The article is pay-walled so we're left with what's stated in the summary. Rewritten for clarity:

An unknown number of leading machine learning and AI specialists have left the UK's top institutions. Of that unknown number:

• 33% are working for Silicon Valley tech firms.
• 10% are working for other smaller US companies.
• 10% are working for North American universities.
• 15% are working for British start-ups.
• 32% are unaccounted for.

Furthermore:

• Did they count where the jobs are or are they actually counting who they are working for? There's no brain drain if the jobs remain in the UK.
• Exactly who is being counted as a "leading machine learning or AI specialist"?
• How many experts have moved from the US to the UK?