【环球时报特约记者 陈欣 环球时报驻加拿大特约记者 陶短房】硅谷的科技人才正在离开？美国彭博社近期称，加拿大多伦多正取代硅谷成为人工智能（AI）及初创企业的中心。另据《纽约邮报》报道，美国非营利机构“硅谷联合投资”的一份调查显示，由于不断上升的成本和生活质量问题，56%的受访者表示可能会在“未来几年内”搬离湾区（即旧金山湾区，硅谷位于其南部）。其中，住房成本高、生活质量下降、高税收是导致人们想要离开的主要原因。
为什么是多伦多
杰弗里·辛顿是人工智能网络的先驱者之一，在最近有关人工智能的公开对话中，他都是备受关注的人物。但令人惊讶的是，辛顿的工作地点选在了多伦多，而非科技行业扎堆的硅谷。辛顿表示，像他这样的顶尖专家，包括很多他在AI研究领域的同事们都被加拿大“这个国家的多元文化和社会体系所吸引”。而对于高科技初创企业而言，多伦多的吸引力来自于“安大略省一流的大学和有才华的学生”，以及公共部门对于AI行业的财政支持。
根据人工智能研究机构Vector Institute和咨询公司德勤共同撰写的一份报告，在截至2022年3月的1年里，约有28.6亿美元的风险投资流入了以多伦多为省会的安大略省，比前一年增长206%，且这一增势有望继续保持。同期，多伦多及其所在的安大略省共创造了2.25万个AI工作岗位，比前一年增长210%。多伦多吸引了全球的企业来此设立AI实验室，专门研究AI经济学的多伦多大学创业学教授阿格拉瓦尔说，“很多此前与多伦多没有渊源的国际公司最终选择了这里，这是一个强烈的信号，表明多伦多已成为一个AI中心。”
多伦多对高科技企业家和投资者的吸引力始于10年前。据彭博社报道，加拿大在2017年成为世界上第一个制定AI战略的国家，针对AI等技能的开放移民政策吸引了大批人才来到多伦多。在多伦多，人口以移民为主。更便利的融资、更高的薪资水平与较低的生活成本使多伦多闪耀着魅力。
硅谷光芒在变暗淡
与多伦多的闪光相比，是硅谷的些许失落。近几十年来，硅谷一直是世界高新技术创新和发展的中心，该地区的风险投资占全美风险投资总额的1/3。包括英特尔 、苹果、谷歌、脸书、雅虎在内的高科技公司总部在此落户。但在过去3年，美国其他地区在科技领域的投资增势更为强劲，包括迈阿密、奥斯汀、纽约、西雅图、费城、芝加哥、丹佛和休斯顿等地出现较高增长。尽管硅谷仍然领先于其他地区，但该地区的整体投资金额在美国本土总额的占比已降至2012年以来的最低水平。而且根据2020年4月1日至2022年7月1日的人口普查数据，有近25万人离开了硅谷地区。
美国媒体指出，美国的繁荣依赖于吸引外国人才。然而，因为移民系统的收紧，数百万工人在获得永久居留权方面障碍重重。而加拿大就是借助了这个政策缺陷选择了对美国政府“挖墙脚”。今年7月，加拿大政府推出一项针对在美知识工人的新工作许可证。持H-1B签证居住在美国的外国人（通常是在科学、技术、工程和数学领域拥有技能的专业人士）有资格获得为期3年的工作许可，允许他们为加拿大的任何雇主工作。此外，签证持有者的配偶还可以自由就业。上述政策在推出后的48小时内，就收到了逾万份来自美国H-1B签证持有人的申请。
寻找下一个硅谷
尽管有人才流出的趋势，但诸如多伦多这样的“后来者”想要赶超硅谷还需时日。布鲁金斯学会新发布的一份报告称，多伦多创造的AI相关的工作总量尚不到湾区的1/10。“多伦多不会成为硅谷”，一家风投公司的合伙人称，硅谷的魔力在于其多年来形成的风险投资生态系统，但这样的系统在多伦多尚不存在。
放眼全球，还有哪些城市像多伦多一样处于“充满潜力的时刻”？英国财政大臣杰里米·亨特去年年底表示，英国正处于“打造下一个硅谷”计划的第一阶段，加强金融服务业、一流大学建设、科技和生命科学领域科研是实现这一目标的三大支柱，位于牛津与剑桥之间的地区则是未来英国“硅谷”的所在地。印度商界认为，近年来，印度一直是全球工程人才的中心，且14亿人口中有65%的人年龄在35岁以下，年轻劳动力的潜在经济效益将推动其打造成为来自亚洲的“硅谷”。《南华早报》则将深圳称为“中国的硅谷”，不仅因为其是中国人均GDP最高的城市之一，更因为深圳还是中国许多科技巨头的总部所在地。
彭博社认为，和多伦多一样，这些城市中年轻的创业生态系统需要时间成熟。但AI技术正处在早期发展的阶段，“未来仍存在更多可能性”。
Global Times special correspondent Chen Xin Global Times Canadian special correspondent Tao Shortfang Silicon Valley technology talents are leaving? Bloomberg recently reported that Toronto, Canada is replacing Silicon Valley as the center of artificial intelligence (AI) and startups. According to a survey by non-profit organization Silicon Valley Joint Investment in the United States, 56% of respondents said they may move out of the Bay Area (i.e. San Francisco Bay Area, located in the southern part of Silicon Valley) "in the next few years" due to rising costs and quality of life issues, according to the New York Post. Among them, high housing costs, declining quality of life, and high taxes are the main reasons why people want to leave.
Why Toronto
Jeffrey Hinton is one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence networks, and he has been a highly anticipated figure in recent public conversations about artificial intelligence. Surprisingly, Hinton chose Toronto as his workplace, rather than Silicon Valley, where the technology industry is crowded. Sinton stated that top experts like him, including many of his colleagues in the field of AI research, are attracted by Canada's "multicultural and social system". For high-tech startups, Toronto's appeal comes from "top universities and talented students in Ontario," as well as financial support from the public sector for the AI industry.
According to a report jointly written by artificial intelligence research firm Vector Institute and consulting firm Deloitte, approximately $2.86 billion in venture capital investment flowed into Ontario, with Toronto as its capital, in the year ended March 2022, an increase of 206% compared to the previous year, and this growth trend is expected to continue. During the same period, Toronto and its province of Ontario created a total of 22500 AI jobs, an increase of 210% compared to the previous year. Toronto has attracted global companies to set up AI laboratories here, "said Agrawal, a professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Toronto who specializes in AI economics
Toronto's appeal to high-tech entrepreneurs and investors began 10 years ago. According to Bloomberg, Canada became the first country in the world to develop an AI strategy in 2017, and its open immigration policy targeting skills such as AI attracted a large number of talents to Toronto. In Toronto, the population is predominantly immigrant. More convenient financing, higher salary levels, and lower living costs make Toronto shine with charm.
Silicon Valley's Light is Dimming
Compared to the glitter in Toronto, it is a slight disappointment in Silicon Valley. In recent decades, Silicon Valley has been the center of high-tech innovation and development in the world, with venture capital in the region accounting for one-third of the total venture capital in the United States. The headquarters of high-tech companies including Intel, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Yahoo have settled here. But in the past three years, investment growth in technology has been stronger in other regions of the United States, including Miami, Austin, New York, Seattle, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, and Houston, where there has been higher growth. Although Silicon Valley still leads other regions, the overall investment amount in the region has dropped to its lowest level in the United States since 2012. And according to the census data from April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2022, nearly 250000 people have left the Silicon Valley region.
American media pointed out that the prosperity of the United States depends on attracting foreign talent. However, due to the tightening of the immigration system, millions of workers face numerous obstacles in obtaining permanent residency rights. Canada, on the other hand, took advantage of this policy flaw and chose to "dig the wall" against the US government. In July of this year, the Canadian government launched a new work permit for knowledge workers in the United States. Foreigners residing in the United States on an H-1B visa (usually professionals with skills in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) are eligible to obtain a 3-year work permit that allows them to work for any employer in Canada. In addition, the spouse of the visa holder is also free to work. Within 48 hours of its launch, the above policy received over 10000 applications from H-1B visa holders in the United States.
Searching for the Next Silicon Valley
Despite the trend of talent outflow, it will take time for 'latecomers' like Toronto to catch up with and surpass Silicon Valley. A new report released by the Brookings Institution states that the total number of AI related jobs created in Toronto is less than 1/10 of that in the Bay Area. Toronto will not become Silicon Valley, "said a partner of a venture capital firm. The magic of Silicon Valley lies in the venture capital ecosystem it has formed over the years, but such a system does not yet exist in Toronto.
Looking at the world, what other cities are at a "moment of great potential" like Toronto? At the end of last year, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunter stated that the UK is in the first phase of the "Building the Next Silicon Valley" plan, with strengthening the financial services industry, building first-class universities, and scientific research in the fields of technology and life sciences as the three pillars to achieve this goal. The area located between Oxford and Cambridge is the location of the future "Silicon Valley" in the UK. The Indian business community believes that in recent years, India has been the center of global engineering talent, and 65% of its 1.4 billion population is under the age of 35. The potential economic benefits of young labor force will drive it to become a "Silicon Valley" from Asia. The South China Morning Post referred to Shenzhen as "China's Silicon Valley", not only because it is one of the cities with the highest per capita GDP in China, but also because Shenzhen is the headquarters of many Chinese technology giants.
Bloomberg believes that, like Toronto, the young entrepreneurial ecosystems in these cities require time to mature. But AI technology is in its early stages of development, and there are still more possibilities in the future.