Award-Winning US Chemist Transfers to China to Head AI Institute

Omar M. Yaghi, the renowned chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry last year, has left Berkeley University in the US to join a research institute in China. Yaghi will be heading an institute in Beijing that focuses on developing new materials using artificial intelligence.This move comes at a time when the US is facing concerns over budget cuts for science research and immigration policies. Yaghi's transfer is seen as the latest example of China's strategy to attract international scientists with its high-budget research programs. The news of Yaghi's departure was widely covered in the American press, following a ceremony last week where he took up his new role at Tsinghua University.The university stated that the use of artificial intelligence aims to significantly accelerate the discovery process of new materials. Yaghi said, "I'm here to do science with more energy, intensity, and passion than ever, not to slow down or redo what's been done before." Alessandra Zimmermann, a budget analyst at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, noted that China's investments in scientific research are rapidly increasing, with the country now surpassing the US in publishing high-level scientific papers, particularly in the field of chemistry.One of Yaghi's most notable works is a device that extracts water from desert air. The system, tested in California's Mojave Desert in 2018, can produce approximately three cups of drinkable water per day without using electricity. The technology is reportedly nearing commercialization.