
Letter from Beijing 2: Tsinghua University – #113
From Manifold by Steve Hsu
June 4, 2026 · 1h 21m · Season 2
About this episode
This episode features discussions with American students and a professor at Tsinghua University about AI, education, and US-China relations.
This special episode was recorded at Tsinghua University in Beijing, generally regarded as the top university in China. Our guests are 3 Americans studying and working at Tsinghua: Gabriel (undergrad), Justin (PhD student in AI), and Alex (Professor in AI research). Topics discussed include: Tsinghua University and elite human capital, AI in China, US-China competition, and the flow of human capital between the US and China Han Feizi, columnist at Asia Times and the guest from the previous "Letter from Beijing" episode, is also in the room. Letter from Beijing with Han Feizi: https://www.manifold1.com/episodes/letter-from-beijing-with-han-feizi-72 Chapter Markers: (00:00) - Welcome to Tsinghua University (02:47) - Gabriel’s Undergrad Journey (12:35) - Justin’s PhD (25:10) - Professor Alex on AI and Rankings (42:51) - Second Chances and Status Signals (46:48) - China’s Exam Ladder Explained (50:20) - Infrastructure and Tech Competition (01:17:18) - Semiconductors, EUV, and Wrap Up – Steve Hsu is Professor of Theoretical Physics and of Computational Mathematics, Science, and Engineering at Michigan State University. Previously, he was Senior Vice President for Research and…
People in this episode
Host: Steve Hsu
Guests: Gabriel, Justin, Alex
Topics covered
- Tsinghua University
- AI in China
- US-China competition
- human capital
- education
- technology
Keywords
- Tsinghua University
- AI
- human capital
- US-China relations
- education
- technology competition
- semiconductors
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Tsinghua University, Asia Times
Places: Beijing, China, US
More episodes of Manifold
- AI Billionaire on Existential Risk: Jaan Tallinn · May 21, 2026 · 1h 41m
- Embryo Selection and Frontier Genomics with Dr. Alex Young – #111 · May 7, 2026 · 1h 31m
- Iran War is the First Missile War (crossover with Seeking Truth From Facts podcast) – #110 · April 23, 2026 · 49 min
- Dreamers and Doomers: Our AI future, with Richard Ngo – #109 · April 9, 2026 · 1h 52m
- China, Acceleration, and Nick Land - with Matt Southey – #108 · March 26, 2026 · 1h 4m
- Shenzhen is the Technology Capital of the World, with Taylor Ogan – #107 · March 12, 2026 · 1h 11m
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Manifold podcast page.