Letter from Beijing 2: Tsinghua University – #113

This special episode was recorded at Tsinghua University in Beijing, generally regarded as the top university in China. Our guests are 3 Americans studying and working at Tsinghua: Gabriel (undergrad), Justin (PhD student in AI), and Alex (Professor in AI research). Topics discussed include: Tsinghua University and elite human capital, AI in China, US-China competition, and the flow of human capital between the US and China

Han Feizi, columnist at Asia Times and the guest from the previous "Letter from Beijing" episode, is also in the room. Letter from Beijing with Han Feizi: https://www.manifold1.com/episodes/letter-from-beijing-with-han-feizi-72

Chapter Markers:

• (00:00) - Welcome to Tsinghua University
• (02:47) - Gabriel’s Undergrad Journey
• (12:35) - Justin’s PhD
• (25:10) - Professor Alex on AI and Rankings
• (42:51) - Second Chances and Status Signals
• (46:48) - China’s Exam Ladder Explained
• (50:20) - Infrastructure and Tech Competition
• (01:17:18) - Semiconductors, EUV, and Wrap Up

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Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation at MSU and Director of the Institute of Theoretical Science at the University of Oregon. Hsu is a startup founder (SuperFocus.ai, SafeWeb, Genomic Prediction, Othram) and advisor to venture capital and other investment firms. He was educated at Caltech and Berkeley, was a Harvard Junior Fellow, and has held faculty positions at Yale, the University of Oregon, and MSU. Please send any questions or suggestions to manifold1podcast@gmail.com or Steve on X @hsu_steve.

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