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Artificial Intelligence, Education, and Entrepreneurship

Journal: Journal of Finance

Date: 20240201

Author: Gofman, Michael; Jin, Zhao

Abstract:
We document an unprecedented brain drain of Artificial Intelligence (AI) professors from universities from 2004 to 2018. We find that students from the affected universities establish fewer AI startups and raise less funding. The brain-drain effect is significant for tenured professors, professors from top universities, and deep-learning professors. Additional evidence suggests that unobserved city- and university-level shocks are unlikely to drive our results. We consider several economic channels for the findings. The most consistent explanation is that professors' departures reduce startup founders' AI knowledge, which we find is an important factor for successful startup formation and fundraising.

Link: Google Scholar

211

AI Professors Left Academia
(2004-2018)

20%

Drop in Early-Stage Funding
After AI Brain Drain

Deep Learning professors' departures had the strongest negative impact on AI startups

Effect concentrated in tenured professors from top-10 CS departments

PhD and Master's students were most affected by the AI brain drain