China turns to high schoolers in race for AI talent. Chinese companies are recruiting AI talent from high school through training camps, research programs and early hiring initiatives as demand for AI engineers continues to outpace supply. Chinese companies are increasingly expanding their AI talent pipeline beyond universities, launching programs aimed at identifying future engineers years before they enter the workforce. In June, Tencent launched a series of three- to eight-week summer camps for students aged 13 to 18, offering training in AI product management, robotics and quantum computing. ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming established a nonprofit research center in October last year for students aged 16 to 18. Each year, the center selects 30 students for full-time research internships in AI, mathematics and computer science while also hosting summer camps for a broader group of participants. Applicants must submit academic transcripts, describe their experience and include a statement from their parents explaining how they have supported their children's education. Automaker Geely also launched a talent development program in March, recruiting students immediately after high school graduation for training before placing them in full-time jobs with salaries comparable to those of bachelor's degree holders. The company provides its own curriculum covering AI, new energy vehicles, the low-altitude economy and satellite technology. The push comes as China faces a widening shortage of AI professionals. Consulting firm McKinsey estimates the country will need about 6 million AI workers by 2030, while the current talent pipeline is expected to supply only around 2 million. According to McKinsey analyst Alex Sawaya, China has two realistic options: upskill existing workers or broaden its talent pipeline. "In a market where AI scientists and algorithm roles are already commanding very high salaries, firms are trying to identify high-upside talent before the market fully prices them in," Tianchen Xu, an economist at Economist Intelligence Unit, told Rest of World. He added that younger engineers who have grown up with open-source models, coding agents and rapid experimentation may adapt more quickly and remain with companies longer. The shortage is not unique to China. A ManpowerGroup survey earlier this year of more than 39,000 employers across 41 countries found that AI model development and application and AI proficiency were the two hardest skills to recruit, cited by 20% and 19% of employers, respectively. The talent gap is also changing how technology companies evaluate job candidates. Google co-founder Sergey Brin told Fortune in January that the company is hiring "tons" of workers without bachelor's degrees. Between 2017 and 2022, the share of Google's job postings requiring a college degree fell from 93% to 77%, according to the Burning Glass Institute. Microsoft, Apple and Cisco have also reduced degree requirements in recent years, reflecting a broader shift toward skills-based hiring. Chris Pei, co-founder of AI recruitment company UFound, said that businesses are investing more resources in identifying promising students at younger ages. However, he said hiring decisions are still largely made when candidates reach university or graduate school. "The investment in high school students is really about building a long-term talent pool. Companies want a way to follow these students' development over several years and see who eventually grows into the kind of person they want to hire."

The era of standalone products has ended, and AI applications have stepped into the enterprise - centric era.

'Story Of Seasons' Mobile game canceled after Marvelous ends six-year partnership with Tencent. 'Story of Seasons' is now more Published: Aug 02 2026, 10:50 PM EDT Marvelous has canceled the planned "Story Of Seasons" mobile game after formally ending its six-year capital and business partnership with Tencent subsidiary Image Frame Investment. The decision was disclosed following a July 31, 2026 meeting of Marvelous' board of directors, where the Japanese developer resolved to terminate its alliance with Image Frame Investment, which had held around a 20 percent stake in the company as part of Tencent's wider investment portfolio. Marvelous stated that the move follows Image Frame Investment's intention to sell its shares, prompted by Tencent's revision of its capital allocation policy and a broader restructuring of its investments in Japanese game studios, according to Eurogamer. 'Story of Seasons' Mobile game canceled. With the exit of Tencent's subsidiary as a major shareholder, former Sega president Hayao Nakayama is now reported as Marvelous' largest shareholder. Marvelous confirmed that Tencent has decided to discontinue development of a mobile game based on the "Story Of Seasons" series, a project that had been in active production under a license agreement signed in March 2019. According to Marvelous and Tencent, the cancellation was made after "comprehensively considering the business environment and project profitability," with Tencent's group determining that continued development was no longer viable. The mobile game, often referred to as "Story Of Seasons Mobile," was being developed by Tencent's NexT Studio and had previously appeared in a brief teaser and a 2021 reveal trailer, but it never reached a public release. Despite the end of the capital and business alliance, Marvelous stressed that the underlying license agreement for the "Story Of Seasons" mobile project remains in force, along with other individual contracts tied to the series, Automaton Media reported. End of six-year partnership. The company indicated that the discontinuation of Tencent's specific mobile title does not automatically terminate all contractual relations between the parties, leaving open the possibility that Marvelous could seek a different partner for future mobile adaptations of its farming simulation franchise. However, neither Marvelous nor Tencent has announced plans for a replacement mobile project or given a timetable for any new collaboration using the "Story Of Seasons" IP. Reports on the partnership's end note that Tencent's investment in Marvelous dates back roughly six years, during which Image Frame Investment held its minority stake but did not visibly drive major co-developed releases with the Japanese publisher. Industry coverage has linked the withdrawal to Tencent's wider effort to rebalance spending and reduce exposure in certain overseas game companies, including Marvelous and other Japanese studios identified in earlier financial reports. Marvelous' official notice emphasizes that the termination of the 2020 capital and business alliance agreement takes effect immediately as of July 31, 2026, but clarifies that the abandonment of the specific mobile title by Tencent will have "no impact on the contractual relationship" between the two parties beyond that project. The company has not released further details about the canceled game's content, monetization model, or development status at the time production stopped, beyond confirming that work had been ongoing under Tencent's lead, as per RPG Site.