It's true that the best Chinese minds often go overseas, even now. It's very hard to say no to a $100 million USD contract offered by Zuck. Even if I was a Chinese nationalist, I'd probably say yes and justify it as "scamming" Zuck. This isn't a problem though. Even if innovations are truly groundbreaking and paradigm-changing.
Even with, arguably, the greatest crop of physicists, United States didn't actually change the world until it standardized and integrated its nuclear arsenal, and its nuclear reactors en masse. What made the innovations actually change the world was the industrial might and progressive institutions that could turn the science into physical goods and services.
United States, nay, the entire West, is greatly diminished in both of those capacities. The institutions and the industry has massively degraded. Even if, by some chance, China missed out on their greatest Einsteins, their Bohrs, Von Neumanns, and so on. It's still vastle superior at organizing that talent, deploying it, and turning their output into useful products. So I'm not worried at all for China and this isn't really an issue worth discussing. It's just copium for United States.
Plus. Plenty of China's brightest minds choose to stay at home now, and more of the ones abroad opt to come back.
Is this really a big deal though? I mean, unless it goes into mass production or until we see it in an actual car, seems a bit premature to celebrate.
