But the number of qualified candidates is falling short, according to the report, with the supply of such talent only reaching less than 645,000 in the next two years in the US.

Sarah Elk, Americas head of AI, Insights, and Solutions at Bain & Company, previously noted that executives see the AI talent gap as a major roadblock to innovation.

“Companies navigating this increasingly competitive hiring landscape need to take action now, upskilling existing teams, expanding hiring strategies, and rethinking ways to attract and retain AI talent,” Elk said in a previous statement.

Leaders in Beijing and Washington believe that whichever country achieves dominance in AI will enjoy a decisive economic, strategic, and military advantage. If there is one idea that leaders in both countries share, it is that they cannot afford to lose the “AI race” to the other, even though there is very little clarity on where the finish line is or what it would represent. Given that both China and the US are courting Southeast Asia, countries in the region will need to navigate deftly to avoid being caught exclusively in the technology systems of either one of them. In short, Southeast Asia’s oft-repeated adage — that it does not want to “choose” between Beijing and Washington — has now moved into the AI domain.

America’s strategy is built on a bet that “whoever has the largest AI ecosystem will set global AI standards and reap broad economic and military benefits.” Thus, American policymakers are bent on avoiding and removing regulatory obstacles. This will enable the rapid buildout of computing power and prevent China from stealing the march from America’s leading technology companies in innovation and standard-setting. Vice President J.D. Vance has declared that “the AI future is not going to be won by hand-wringing about safety. It will be won by building.”

In that spirit, America’s AI Action Plan directs the US to “export its full AI technology stack — hardware, models, software, applications, and standards — to all countries willing to join America’s AI alliance.” What is left unsaid is that many parts of the “US AI technology stack” are sourced from Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and China. Through the transfer of its full stack, so the thinking goes, the US will lock other countries into its technology and standards, thereby securing its dominant position.

China’s strategy is, in many ways, a study in contrast with the Trump administration’s approach. At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in July, Premier Li Qiang emphasised that China aspires not only to lead on AI safety issues, but also to create a World AI Cooperation Organisation based in Shanghai. Whereas the Trump administration instinctively opposes the United Nations taking on a larger role in AI governance, China — at least rhetorically — is supportive. While America’s leading technology companies have poured billions of dollars into building leading-edge, proprietary, closed AI systems (Meta’s Llama and OpenAI’s gpt-oss being exceptions), Chinese AI firms are building open models to appeal to global users, particularly in the developing world.

Given the existential stakes Washington has placed upon “winning the AI race”, the US will likely grow more aggressive in seeking to slow China’s progress as Chinese firms continue to make technological strides and diffuse Chinese open-source models around the world. This will have spillover effects in Southeast Asia, a region that both the US and China are seeking to court.

The US has a conflicted approach to Southeast Asia on AI. On one hand, Washington will likely ratchet up pressure on Southeast Asian countries to adhere to American export controls and regulatory restrictions on technology transfer to China. There is a widely held view in Washington that China’s recent AI advances have been aided by smuggling and illicit transshipments of restricted semiconductor chips from Southeast Asia to China. Washington will likely step up law enforcement actions, sanctions, and technology transfer restrictions to cut off China’s access to leading-edge chips and related technologies.

To maximise benefits while minimising risks, leaders in the region will need to be clear, consistent, and firm with Washington and Beijing about their goals and concerns. They will need to disavow values or ideology as a basis for technology adoption.

On the other hand, US officials want Southeast Asian countries to adopt America’s AI tech stack. The challenge for the US is that if it applies too heavy a hand in pushing to limit the adoption of Chinese technology or pressuring countries to limit technology cooperation with Chinese firms, then it could well achieve the opposite of its intended result. An overbearing American approach could push countries in the region to turn away from American AI in favour of China’s offerings.

In this sense, technology diffusion will likely be an epicentre of US-China strategic competition in Southeast Asia. Pressure will grow on countries and companies in the region to choose sides. Southeast Asian countries naturally seek to benefit from both powers without being forced to adopt one AI tech stack or the other monogamously.

Amid these challenges, the US-China AI competition will also create opportunities for the region. For example, major multinational technology firms will likely continue to grow their investments in local talent and innovation ecosystems in Southeast Asia. Global producers will see benefits in diversifying value chains and gaining insulation from geopolitical uncertainty by producing in Southeast Asia. This can already be seen in the buildout of AI data centres in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, where the US and China have leading companies with significant presence. These investments will generate jobs and develop infrastructure and energy capacity.

To maximise benefits while minimising risks, leaders in the region will need to be clear, consistent, and firm with Washington and Beijing about their goals and concerns. They will need to disavow values or ideology as a basis for technology adoption. They also need to warn that onerous regulatory burdens or capricious policy decisions will disincentivise long-term investments in either side’s technology stacks.

Striking such a balance between the US and China will not be easy, but it will be necessary for the region to avoid a complete bifurcation between US and Chinese technology ecosystems. As uncomfortable as it will be for countries and companies to be caught in the middle, it will still serve as a better option for the region than becoming viewed as being aligned exclusively with one power in opposition to the other. That outcome would not only result in less optionality; it would also be dangerous.

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Quantum science is one of today’s most talked-about fields, full of buzz and seemingly limitless potential to reshape how we understand the world — and what technology can achieve. Including subsets like quantum information science and quantum mechanics, the field is a subject more people have heard of than can explain, often surrounded by bold claims, from floating, earthquake-proof cities to making time travel possible.

But for Anastasia Pipi, the focus remains grounded in real science rather than in science fiction. Growing up in Cyprus, Pipi was always fascinated by physics. But explaining her desire to make it a career was sometimes a challenge.

“Physics didn’t seem like a common career path among the people I knew; many saw it as limiting,” she said. “But I was naturally drawn to it — it just made sense to me. I knew that pursuing it could open many more doors.”

Excelling in science throughout high school, Pipi was captivated by her first physics class, where her teacher kindled her curiosity by opening each chapter with deceptively simple questions — such as how an object would move in the vacuum of space — inviting students to reason from first principles before they had learned the formal laws.

Intrigued by the challenge of theorizing about the unknown and driven by a love for math, she went on to study mathematical physics at the University of Edinburgh, where she was first introduced to quantum science.

Eager to innovate in a cutting-edge field, she traveled to the U.S. to join UCLA’s master’s program in quantum science and technology, or MQST.

“I was excited that UCLA offered opportunities to explore not only theory, but also the computational and experimental sides,” Pipi said. “It was a great way to learn how to apply my skills in practice — and it was incredibly motivating to see everyone here pushing boundaries at such an inspiring, accelerated pace.”

Roger Lee/UCLA

What is quantum science?

The power of quantum, Pipi says, lies in its ability to revolutionize secure communication, offering unprecedented protection for sensitive data in an increasingly digital world; to tackle complex pharmaceutical challenges such as personalized medicine and targeted drug design; and to explore fundamental questions in physics, from the nature of gravity to the mystery of dark matter and beyond.

Still, she emphasizes that the foremost goal — both for her and her colleagues — is to solve the practical challenges that stand in the way of making quantum technologies truly viable.

“When we think about the future of quantum, it’s easy to get swept up in the hype,” she said. “But the real excitement lies in the tangible, transformative progress we’re making — even if it comes with big challenges.”

But what, exactly, is quantum?

“In a nutshell, quantum physics is our framework for understanding nature at the smallest scales,” Pipi said. “While Newtonian physics helps us make sense of things like planetary motion or how a ball rolls across the floor, those laws break down when we look at microscopic particles. The behavior of something like an electron is probabilistic — instead of tracing a neat, predictable path, we can only calculate the likelihood of where it might be at any given time.”

Pipi’s scientific curiosity and drive to explore the potential of quantum technologies made her a natural fit for UCLA’s MQST program.

“Anastasia was a standout member of our inaugural cohort and represents exactly the type of student our program was designed for,” said Richard Ross, MQST program director. “She showed an impressive aptitude and curiosity for this interdisciplinary field and is well prepared to make her mark in it.”

Bringing research to life with Nvidia, Caltech and more

Pipi’s time at UCLA was so rewarding that she stayed on after earning her MQST degree to pursue a doctorate in physics under the mentorship of Professor Prineha Narang, a leader in physical sciences and electrical and computer engineering. With Narang’s guidance, Pipi is advancing research at the intersection of fundamental physics and emerging technology, developing quantum control methods powered by artificial intelligence in atomic, molecular and optical systems, in collaboration with scientists at Caltech and the technology company Nvidia.

As she looks beyond her graduation, Pipi is eager to deepen her work on developing computational tools that can help make quantum technologies more practical and scalable. In the meantime, she’s fully embraced life on and off campus, steadily building her international profile as a researcher. In addition to presenting her work on quantum logic spectroscopy as a lead author at the American Physical Society, she traveled to Denmark earlier this year to attend the prestigious AI4Quantum: Accelerating Quantum Computing with AI conference, organized by the global health care company Novo Nordisk.

But Pipi’s interests extend far outside the lab. A certified open-water diver, she is also passionate about ballet, piano and snow skiing. She sees creativity not as separate from science, but as an essential part of it — a perspective that continues to shape her approach to research and life as she continues to explore new and exciting horizons.

“Physics offers a unique outlet for creativity,” she said. “Science is an art form where imagination can be just as important as logic.”

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