It is becoming increasingly difficult to separate AI research from geopolitics

The top of the world The AI ​​research conference Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems – better known as NeurIPS – this week became the latest organization caught up in a growing conflict between geopolitics and global scientific collaboration. Conference organizers announced controversial new restrictions on international attendees, then quickly lifted them after Chinese AI researchers threatened to boycott the event.

“This is a potential game changer,” said Paul Triolo, a partner at consulting firm DGA-Albright Stonebridge, which covers U.S.-China relations. Triolo argues that attracting Chinese researchers to NeurIPS benefits U.S. interests, but some American officials have pushed for American and Chinese scientists to decouple their work — particularly in the area of ​​AI, which has become a particularly sensitive issue in Washington.

The incident could exacerbate political tensions around AI research and deter Chinese scientists from working on…