The runaway success of Chinese artificial intelligence models such as DeepSeek and Qwen has spurred every industry, from health care to agriculture to education, to integrate AI. 

Adoption of AI models in education and tutoring has been especially fast, as the Chinese government pushes to accelerate the country’s technological progress against the U.S., and with anxious parents willing to try anything to help their children succeed.

Like university teacher Wu Ling, who while looking for an English tutor for her 12-year-old son in Jiangsu province, picked a $1,170 robot dog. 

The one-foot tall AlphaDog, which weighs about eight kilos (18 pounds) was developed by robotics startup Weilan and is powered by DeepSeek’s AI model. In addition to practicing English with Wu’s son, it chats with him about current events, dances to his guitar music, and, through its built-in camera, helps Wu monitor the home when she is away. It has become a part of the family, she told Rest of World.

“My son needs company, but we are a one-child family,” Wu said. “He asks the dog about all kinds of things — national news, weather, geography. Through AlphaDog, he is learning what the world is like.”

With the Chinese government’s push, AI in education has become a multibillion-dollar industry.

From robot toys to homework-grading systems, AI tools are flooding classrooms and households alike. They not only provide learning material but also companionship and emotional support, taking on an increasingly bigger role in the lives of children in China. In an August directive, the government ordered that the technology be integrated throughout children’s education to enable personalized teaching, raise learning quality, and narrow inequalities.

But educators and researchers remain skeptical, warning that AI’s benefits are overstated, and that such tools may cause harm by limiting children’s social interactions and weakening their learning skills. They may also widen inequalities, as rural children face long hours in front of screens while their urban peers spend time with qualified teachers, Jeremy Knox, an associate professor at the University of Oxford who has studied AI in Chinese education, told Rest of World.

“There is so much hype [around AI] at the moment,” he said. Many researchers are skeptical of the edtech industry’s promise that AI will lead to better education. “If young people are relying more and more on automated responses, they are losing the ability to do that thinking for themselves.”

AI is fast becoming part of children’s education and upbringing across the world. In the U.S., Alpha Schools use AI to teach children reading, math, and entrepreneurship. In India, OpenAI is training school teachers to plan lessons and improve student engagement with AI. Students in Colombia regularly use Meta’s AI bots in the WhatsApp messaging app, while teachers in Kenya plan lessons with AI tools. Mattel, the U.S. toy company and maker of Barbie dolls, is partnering with OpenAI to develop AI-powered toys.

With the Chinese government’s push, AI in education has become a multibillion-dollar industry. Schools have integrated a slew of AI-powered devices and software including personalized exercise books, and models capable of grading stacks of test papers in minutes.

People are buying things randomly because it’s AI.”

Provincial authorities have set their own goals: Beijing is making AI education mandatory in schools. Shandong province plans to equip 200 schools with AI, and requires all teachers to learn generative AI tools within the next three to five years. Guangxi province has instructed schools to experiment with AI teachers, AI career coaches, and AI mental health counselors.

Still, AI has not yet transformed education in meaningful ways, Yong Zhao, a professor of education at the University of Kansas, told Rest of World. Compared with U.S. schools, which have more freedom to design their own teaching methods, Chinese schools still follow state-designed curricula with little room for experimentation despite adopting AI, he said. 

“AI is not making a huge difference at this moment,” Zhao said. “People are buying things randomly because it’s AI.” 

On Chinese social media, some teachers have complained that AI adoption is performative, adds to their workload, and that some systems are intrusive. 

The pushback has not stopped schools from embracing new AI products. 

One startup, Ling Xin Intelligence, rolled out AI therapy booths at nearly 200 schools this year. Students confide in the AI agents about their anxieties over coursework or family relationships, chief executive officer Zheng Shuliang told Rest of World.

“Some children do not want to talk to the teachers so much,” Zheng said. “They prefer talking to AI inside the little booths.” 

An overreliance on AI could hurt children’s ability to think on their own and communicate with teachers and classmates, Sun Sun Lim, a professor at the Singapore Management University who researches education technology, told Rest of World. 

“We need to think about how to use these [AI] platforms in ways that will actually allow the child to grow rather than to make the child lazy,” she said.

But for most Chinese parents and educators, AI’s promise of helping children get better grades is too good to ignore. 

If young people are relying more and more on automated responses, they are losing the ability to do that thinking for themselves.”

Over the summer, Wu made her son do Chinese, English, and math exercises on an iFlytek AI learning tablet. Companies including BaiduiBaiduBaidu is a Chinese technology company that operates the country’s biggest search engine and video-streaming service iQiyi.READ MORE and Zuoyebang — which means “homework help” — sell millions of such tablets. Tens of thousands of AI study centers have sprung up across the country, claiming children can self-learn through the tablets without needing parents or tutors.

The tablet generates personalized tests and keeps a record of the child’s performance. It cost more than $1,500, Wu said, but it was still cheaper than in-person classes.

“We were able to make do without human tutors,” she said. 

The prevalence of AI in the country means parents are turning to it even for minding their babies. Doubao, ByteDanceiByteDanceByteDance is a Chinese internet technology company that owns TikTok and Douyin, a Chinese version of TikTok with a successful e-commerce arm.READ MORE’s AI app, features a real-time voice chat that parents of young children have found especially useful. On social network Xiaohongshu, users have posted about Doubao narrating stories to their children or soothing them when they cried, sometimes adopting the persona of a cartoon character.

Tong Mingbo, a 31-year-old in the eastern city of Hangzhou, let her 4-year-old son chat with Doubao when she needed a break, she told Rest of World. The chatbot, in a gentle female voice, conversed with the child about bananas, robots, kindergarten, and his favorite food, tofu. 

Tong said she is worried that exposure to AI could affect her child’s development. After interacting with Doubao, her son became impatient with her, possibly because the AI chatbot was so accommodating, she said. 

But when she feels tired and has no help on hand, she might turn to the AI chatbot again, she said. 

“The child would otherwise never let me sleep,” Tong said. “When he was chatting with Doubao, I got to take a 20-minute nap.”

China’s battery giants have pulled the plug on South Korea’s dominance in powering electric vehicles.

South Korea’s three top EV battery makers — LG Energy Solution, SK On, and Samsung SDI — are operating their factories at half capacity, while Chinese rivals CATL and BYDiBYDBYD Auto is a Chinese carmaker that became the world’s leading EV manufacturer in 2023, competing with Tesla for market share and global attention.READ MORE run theirs near full throttle. The global battery industry has fundamentally realigned from premium performance to cost-effectiveness. 

While South Korean manufacturers built their business on nickel-based batteries with superior energy density, Chinese companies dominate production of cheaper lithium iron phosphate batteries that automakers now prefer.

“When automakers accept LFP for high volumes, demand for premium nickel cells becomes a niche market serving luxury, long-range, and performance vehicles,” Oliver Petschenyk, powertrain analyst at research firm GlobalData, told Rest of World. “This shrinks the volume addressable for South Korean players built around that chemistry.”

LG Energy Solution’s factory use has fallen for four straight years while China’s CATL operates at 90% capacity, according to SNE Research. The three South Korean giants’ combined share outside China dropped to 38% this year, down seven percentage points from 2024.

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The battery wars that reshaped the industry began in 2021 when Chinese companies massively increased production of nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries. The surge drove up prices for lithium, nickel, and cobalt, widening the cost differential between NMC and LFP battery packs and triggering a market shift that South Korean firms failed to anticipate.

“Though prices for NMC inputs have now dropped, South Korean firms that produce NMCs in the Chinese market had to deal with the consequences from this period in which their costs of production spiked,” Laura Gormley, senior research analyst at Rhodium Group’s China practice, told Rest of World. “Chinese LFP producers as well as NMC producers that could shift production lines more quickly ate up market share.”

South Korean companies focused on premium nickel batteries for high-end EVs, dismissing cheaper LFP technology as inferior, while China mastered LFP production just as the market shifted toward affordable mass-market electric vehicles. Even as South Korean companies now scramble to produce LFP batteries, China’s advantages in raw materials, labor costs, and vertical integration have made competing on price almost impossible.

Government support helps Chinese firms lower their costs of production, secure market share, and outlast foreign peers through industry downturns.”

South Korean companies are responding with emergency measures including executive salary freezes, workforce reductions, and management overhauls, even as Chinese competitors who have mastered mass-production economics grab market share.

China controls the battery market through sheer production scale that exceeds global demand. The country has 82% of global manufacturing capacity, giving Chinese firms the power to flood markets and outlast competitors, according to Rhodium Group’s data.

The dominance stems partly from massive government backing, which South Korean firms lack. BYD and CATL each received at least $2 billion annually in state support in 2023 and 2024, Gormley told Rest of World. The subsidies provide a safety net for Chinese firms.

“Government support helps Chinese firms lower their costs of production, secure market share, and outlast foreign peers through industry downturns,” Gormley said. “Even if other jurisdictions have invested intensively in R&D and possess technological capabilities, they may still depend on China as the primary buyer until domestic demand is sufficient across the value chain.”

CATL’s scale demonstrates China’s manufacturing prowess. The company, which claims to power one in three EVs globally, can produce a cell in a second and a battery pack in 2.5 minutes — efficiency levels beyond the reach of its South Korean rivals.

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The Chinese giant operates 13 global facilities and is investing more than 11 billion euros ($13 billion) in plants across Germany, Hungary, and Spain. This expansion brings Chinese manufacturing to markets that South Korean firms had considered secure territory.

“This scale is the result of our relentless pursuit of innovation,” CATL said in an emailed statement to Rest of World. “We’ve invested over $10 billion in R&D, built a world-class team of more than 20,000 researchers with 50,000 patents granted and pending globally.”

South Korean firms made a strategic error by expanding aggressively in the U.S. and Europe just as EV sales slowed in 2024. Their factories sit idle while Chinese rivals serve faster-growing markets in Asia and emerging economies, according to Teymour Bourial, founder of sustainability consulting firm ExoPeak.

Samsung SDI suffered as the sales of BMW’s electric model slowed and U.S. carmaker Rivian switched to Chinese company Gotion’s LFP batteries. LG Energy Solution, meanwhile, took hits from Tesla’s declining sales volume, data from SNE Research showed.

The vertical integration of Chinese firms provides additional advantages. CATL owns lithium mines, holds stakes in component manufacturers, and operates what industry analyst Steve LeVine describes in his newsletter The Electric as “by far the world’s largest global constellation of battery gigafactories.”

South Korean firms face a difficult choice between writing off existing investments and continuing to serve a shrinking premium market.”

Chinese companies have continued to push technological boundaries while maintaining cost leadership. CATL’s new Shenxing Pro batteries deliver 758 kilometers (471 miles) of range and can add 478 kilometers in 10 minutes even in extreme cold — eliminating the cold-weather weakness that South Korean firms once used to justify their avoidance of LFP technology.

South Korean companies are now scrambling to develop LFP capabilities they earlier dismissed. Samsung SDI and SK On have both targeted 2026 for mass production of LFP batteries, while LG Energy is prioritizing LFP development in the U.S. and expects its Morocco plant to be operational next year.

“SK On has succeeded in applying the technologies around making high-nickel battery electrodes and materials to LFP batteries,” vice president Hwang Jae-youn had said while showcasing the company’s pilot product in 2023. “This allows us to compete in the mass market segment we previously ignored.”

The recalibration comes with significant challenges for South Korean manufacturers accustomed to premium production. Their smaller scale compared to Chinese rivals results in less leverage in supplier negotiations, making it difficult to achieve the cost reductions necessary for LFP competitiveness.

“Existing investments in nickel-line capacity, supplier contracts, and customer commitments make rapid, large-scale LFP switches expensive and operationally complex,” Petschenyk said. “South Korean firms face a difficult choice between writing off existing investments and continuing to serve a shrinking premium market.”

Chinese battery makers, meanwhile, are expanding into markets South Korean firms once dominated. CATL counts Tesla, Volkswagen, and BMW among its major clients — relationships built on cost advantage and technological capabilities that match or exceed South Korean offerings.

BYD has recently partnered with Japan’s Toyota, breaking into the historically insular Japanese market that South Korean firms had targeted for growth. In India, despite geopolitical tensions, China’s CALB Group and Gotion have established long-term partnerships with local manufacturers.

Mercedes-Benz has increasingly considered Chinese partners for volume models — sometimes even dubious ones — while reserving South Korean suppliers primarily for flagship vehicles. The German automaker’s shift reflects the broader industry trend toward Chinese batteries for mass-market vehicles.

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LG Energy Solution’s CEO, Kim Dong-myung, predicted earlier this year that global battery demand will hit its lowest point in the first half of 2025 before potentially rebounding in 2026, though recovery may not restore South Korean dominance. The International Energy Agency warned in March 2024 that South Korean makers’ survival depends on embracing cheaper LFP designs, a realization that has prompted catch-up investments.

South Korean manufacturers invested a combined $1.7 billion in research and development in 2024 — an all-time high according to company reports. Yet this investment pales compared to the broader Chinese ecosystem’s research capabilities.The collapse in demand for South Korean batteries has rippled through the country’s supply chain. Major materials firms that feed battery production, including L&F, Posco Future M, and Ecopro, have suffered significant revenue decline due to Chinese competition, impacting every stage from raw materials to finished cells.

South Korea now finds itself trapped between past investments and future necessities. The country has spent billions building state-of-the-art factories for premium nickel battery production. Converting the factories requires rebuilding entire production lines with new equipment and processes.

“South Korean players cannot realistically compete with China on cost since their operations are less vertically integrated, their plants are smaller, and their yields are lower,” ExoPeak’s Bourial said. “Their best chance lies in focusing efforts on next-generation technologies such as solid-state or sodium-ion batteries because a breakthrough could allow South Korea to reclaim influence in specific parts of the global market.”

China’s long-standing efforts to bring back talent are starting to pay off at a time when its tech and science rivalry with the U.S. has intensified.

According to a Stanford University study, nearly 19,955 Chinese-origin scientists who built their careers in the U.S. left the country between 2010 and 2021, with many returning to China. Departures among engineering and computer science professionals spiked in 2021.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to revoke Chinese student visas, tamper with the H-1B visa program, and sanction TikTok have dampened Chinese professionals’ enthusiasm for building careers in the country. Past events, such as anti-espionage and intellectual property theft prosecutions, as well as federal raids and arrests against Chinese scientists in the U.S., have also deepened mistrust.

Beijing, meanwhile, has been luring Chinese-origin software engineers, tech entrepreneurs, and researchers to build their careers at home. The Chinese government has dished out generous relocation subsidy programs. Academic institutions in China have promised scientists their own labs, guaranteeing funding and support, while tech companies have empowered executives to draw on blank canvases.

“The political tensions have made the working and living environment, particularly those in North America and some in Europe, not as comfortable, not as safe and ideal as it used to be,” said Lili Yang, assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong who studied the reverse migration of Chinese researchers.

Rest of World spoke with Chinese returnees from Silicon Valley to hear what pushed them to reshape their career paths. The quotes have been edited for length and clarity.

Chief operating officer of Volvo China

Zhu Ling, Shanghai

China had just joined the World Trade Organization when I went to the U.S. in 2004 for my postgraduate studies. I felt the U.S. was more advanced in cars and I wanted to intern at one of the Detroit “Big Three” automakers after graduation. But then came the 2008 financial crisis, and they all basically went bankrupt. I returned to China for visits, and everything felt different each time I came. China was developing at an incredible speed. So I didn’t think too much and came back in 2011.

China’s car industry wasn’t actually that good then, but I sensed it would definitely become the largest car market in the world. The speed meant there was a shortage of people to get things done. So, for those of us who returned from the U.S. with some foundational knowledge, they were very willing to let us lead a segment and take charge of a business area.

I’ve personally worked on nine to 10 car models in the Geely group [Volvo’s parent]. It’s unrealistic and impossible in Europe or America to participate in or lead so many complete projects within a decade or so. I believe returning to China was the most correct decision in my life.

Founder of metal parts exporter CWB Industrial

He Yang, Shanghai

I was an engineer at Meta, but after a year or two, I felt there wasn’t much more to learn or to grow. Before I resigned, during the Web3 boom in early 2022, I researched several potential ventures I could start in the US, but I had job-seeking pressure as an H-1B visa holder. I decided to start a business back in China using my family connections. 

I registered my business in Shanghai at a startup incubation campus for overseas returnees. It is government-backed and provides office space, rent subsidies, financing opportunities, and operational support like tax assistance. I don’t think I’d receive this kind of comprehensive support in the U.S.

I now sell basic metal fastening sub-components to overseas clients. Car or machinery factories rely on our parts. If we don’t supply them by specific deadlines, their production lines will halt. Even though there are trade issues between the U.S. and China, I am not worried because we don’t need to focus solely on the U.S. market; new opportunities will emerge. I now have clients in many countries — from Mexico and the UAE to Singapore.

It’s unlikely that this industry will be replaced in the short term by somewhere else, like Southeast Asia. It’s highly integrated. There are several steps in each nut and bolt that we make, and each step is done by a different, highly specialized factory. In China, I can do all of these steps in a single city in a day or two. It’s a significant advantage. Other regions simply don’t have this speed and convenience.

Founder and CEO of augmented-reality glasses manufacturer XReal

Xu Chi, Shanghai

My story is one of tech globalization. I chose to return to China because many innovations in algorithms and software are from the U.S., but innovations in hardware and infrastructure have increasingly developed in China. If you look back over the past decade, it’s almost impossible to name small or medium-sized American companies that started from scratch and succeeded primarily with hardware. On the other hand, you find that Chinese companies are innovating and iterating new generations of technology at a faster pace. 

I returned in 2016, and there wasn’t as much confrontation or competition between the U.S. and China at the time. Three years later, my former employer Magic Leap sued us for intellectual property theft. That was dismissed by U.S. courts because it was groundless. I don’t think the lawsuit was related to U.S.-China relations. Magic Leap did the same to other American firms to delay competition coming from rivals. My former employer in the U.S. was very slow in hardware development and even Apple’s Vision Pro fell somewhat below industry expectations. Meta spent so much money and its products still feel lacking. 

We are Google’s second manufacturer for its Android AR glasses, after Samsung. Manufacturing talent is highly concentrated in China, and after years of producing for other brands like Apple, some core component makers in China’s supply chain are now driving innovation. 

Member of Unity China’s game engine team

Ariel Tan, Shanghai

I was laid off last year after 10 years in the U.S. I initially wanted to find my next job in the U.S., but I didn’t win the H-1B lottery. The visa issue was a huge problem, and many prospective employers turned me down at the final stage. I started thinking about returning to China. I didn’t expect so many Chinese recruiters would approach me but many of the gaming companies I liked in China extended offers. 

I’ve just been back for a month, but I think if I settle down here, I would very much be able to make my own game. This idea became much stronger after I returned to China. In the U.S., it is possible to achieve things like buying a house or a car from a salary, but here, in Shanghai, you can’t rely on the salary from a job alone. 

The biggest potential in starting a gaming business in China is that the probability of finding a collaborator here is very high, because there’s a huge base of talented people, and many of them are at the same skill level. The fundamental skills of programmers in China are solid. People in the U.S. are more of a mixed bag. It has excellent, possibly genius-level people, and then there are some people who are barely getting by. 

Head of software engineering at agentic AI firm Sleekflow

Ray Ma, Hong Kong

I know some people returned to China because they had problems like being laid off or with their H-1B visa expiring, but I was already a U.S. citizen. My motivation was to work on more AI-related stuff. In Silicon Valley, things change really fast. Either you make the change, or you’re out of the game. 

I was a director at LinkedIn, and the AI jobs in the U.S. would be a big detour for me. I probably would have to start in a very junior role. So, the best tactic for me is to work at a company that doesn’t just focus on AI but also has other businesses. At Sleekflow, I can have hands-on experience working on AI as a manager.

My wife and kids have stayed behind in the U.S. Sleekflow is trying to tap into the U.S., so if it works out there, that probably would be an even better set-up for me, because I can return to the U.S. and help with the company’s growth there.