China's Decades-Old 'Genius Class' Pipeline Is Quietly Fueling Its AI Challenge To the US

Source: Slashdot

China’s Decades-Old Genius Class Pipeline Fuels Its AI Challenge

China’s decades-old network of elite high-school “genius classes” — ultra‑competitive talent streams that pull an estimated 100,000 gifted teenagers out of regular schooling every year and run them through college‑level science curricula — has produced the core technical talent now building the country’s AI push. The program, originally launched in the 1970s, continues to feed top universities and research labs, giving China a deep bench of engineers and scientists who are rapidly advancing its artificial‑intelligence capabilities.