Anthropic’s ‘anti-China’ stance triggers departure of star AI researcher

A star Chinese artificial intelligence researcher has left Anthropic to join a rival company, citing the US AI startup’s “anti-China statements” as the main reason for his departure.

Yao Shunyu, according to a post on his website Monday, left Anthropic after less than a year to join Google DeepMind, in part because of his “strong” opposition to the startup’s characterization of China as an “antagonistic nation” and its broader rhetoric.

Anthropic labeled China as such last month when it began barring subsidiaries of Chinese companies around the world from accessing its services.

“While, to be clear, I believe most people at Anthropic disagree with such (characterization), I don’t think there is any way for me to stay,” Yao wrote.

According to his resume, Yao earned a doctorate in theoretical and mathematical physics from Stanford University. He did his undergraduate studies at Tsinghua University, where he won the Presidential Prize and the Yeh Chi-Sun Prize, the highest awards given to undergraduates at this elite Chinese institution.