Germany, Netherlands and Italy gain AI researchers, France loses out

Germany and the Netherlands attracted thousands of new artificial intelligence researchers last year, while France shed talent, according to a new report that looks at the impact geopolitical upheaval is having on academic and expert migration. 

The number of AI researchers and engineers in Germany grew by 65% in 2025 to more than 17,000 compared to the previous year, according to data from the Berlin technology think tank Interface. In the Netherlands numbers jumped by 87%; in Italy 117%; Spain 38%; and Sweden 28%.

Meanwhile, France lost 45% of its AI research and engineering workforce, and Poland 9%, the data suggests. 

“In 2024, Paris was the AI hub for Europe,” said Siddhi Pal, co-author of Talent in, Talent out: The Shifting Geography of the Global AI Workforce. “And now the Netherlands and Germany are emerging more as magnets of talent.” 

The data is based on public sources and workers’ LinkedIn profiles, so it’s possible some of these fluctuations are down to methodology. 

But the decline of French attractiveness is mirrored in other datasets, the report, says. For example, the number of long-term talent visas issued in France dropped by 7.9% in 2025. 

“Across the board, they're hiring less,” said Catherine Schneider, another co-author. “That can be due to economic factors, or it could be companies preferring to hire internally. But it’s clear that France, in general, is less competitive than it was even a year ago with tech.” 

It’s also possible that, as the French AI scene has matured, start-ups have left for the US, or there’s less hiring as fewer new companies are set up, she added.

The findings also echo broader data released last month about tech workers in general, not just AI specialists, that suggest France is losing its lustre as a destination for US workers. 

Brain drain ending?

That research, compiled by Revelio Labs, a workforce data company that provided the data underpinning the latest report from Interface, also uncovered another key trend: more tech workers are now moving from the US to Europe than the other way, ending a long period of brain drain. 

Transatlantic exchange has slowed in both directions, but a particularly steep fall in relocations to the US now means Europe is currently the net winner for talent, albeit by a very small margin. 

Schneider said she had spoken to tech workers who were seeking internal transfers from US to European offices. “I think, frankly, a lot of people are looking at how quickly things are changing with the immigration market in the US,” she said. 

Part of this is down to the unsettled and sometimes hostile environment created by the Trump administration. But other factors, such as post-pandemic layoffs in the tech sector, may also play a role. 

“It's not just the Trump impact, but also things around quality of life, safety for people of different identities,” said Schneider, drawing on interviews she and Pal conducted for the report. 

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And the US could have further to fall. The data isn’t yet up to date enough to measure the impact of a $100,000 extra charge for skilled worker H-1B visas, including amendments and extensions of existing permits, announced in September 2025. 

“It's interesting to see how a change in sentiment also changes these pathways,” said Pal. “It doesn't actually have to be hard policy to see a shift.” 

In India, one of the biggest sources of tech talent, Europe’s reputation as a destination has been rising compared to the US, Pal said. “As an Indian, I can say that the US was always held up as the place where you get better salaries or more opportunities. But I'm seeing a shift in perspective there,” she said.

As part of a free trade deal agreed between Brussels and Delhi in January, the EU promised to streamline visa applications from Indians. 

Gender trouble

Interface’s report also sounds a warning that the AI industry’s male skew isn’t getting any better. 

Across the EU, just 20.9% of AI researchers or engineers are female, it found. In Germany, in 2025, this proportion fell to 19.3%. 

“Growth across Europe's AI workforce is not automatically producing a more gender-balanced one, and in several cases, gender balance is decreasing,” the report says. 

With women still doing more childcare than men, they struggle more with the long hours and constant demands of AI jobs, said Pal. “There are no defined working hours,” she said. “A lot of things happen in the evening.”

And even for women in AI without children, a “boys club” atmosphere in some firms locked them out of decisions and networking, she added.