Big tech firms' AI hiring frenzy leads to brain drain at UK universities

High demand at companies such as Google could leave fewer talented scientists to teach next generation, academics fear

British universities are being stripped of artificial intelligence (AI) experts in a brain drain to the private sector that is hampering research and disrupting teaching at some of the country's leading institutions.

Scores of talented scientists have left or passed up university posts for salaries two to five times higher at major technology firms, where besides getting better pay, new recruits can take on real-world problems with computer power and datasets that academia cannot hope to provide.