NBER Study: Chinese Universities Dominate AI Patents at 8x the U.S. Rate
fortune · reddit · 2026-08-11
A sweeping National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) study analyzing nearly 14 million Chinese patents reveals that Chinese universities account for over 25% of inventions in 14 critical technology fields, including AI and advanced computing—a rate 8 times higher than in the U.S.
The findings also challenge the assumption that China relies on returning U.S. talent, as fewer than 10% of these critical tech patents involve inventors with U.S. work experience. This contrasts with the U.S. innovation model, which is heavily corporate-driven.
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