That disconnect is pushing major employers like Deloitte, Verizon, and Walmart to roll out large-scale AI training for their employees. And according to Donna Morris, Walmart’s chief people officer, the stakes extend far beyond individual companies: The outcome could shape the competitiveness of the broader U.S. economy.

“Let’s look at China,” Morris said in an interview with Fortune. “Five-year-olds are learning DeepSeek, and that says a lot about how they believe in capability building. What would it do to our U.S. economy, if we all leaned into that opportunity?”

In many parts of China, students are being introduced to AI concepts as soon as they enter school. Beijing’s primary and secondary schools plan to offer at least eight hours of AI instruction each academic year, covering topics like how to properly use chatbots and the ethics of AI. Chinese students, on average, also spend more time in the classroom than their U.S. peers.

There are already signs that China’s investment in AI education is translating into a deep talent pipeline. Nearly one-third of the world’s top AI talent were born in China, according to a 2020 study from the Paulson Institute, and many top U.S. tech companies have been dishing out sky-high compensation packages to woo that talent. When Meta, for example, unveiled its new Superintelligence Labs in June, seven of the labs’ 11 researchers were born in China—and all were recruited from outside the United States.

Without increased training, the U.S. talent pipeline risks ‘falling behind,’ CEOs say

Enhanced AI training for the U.S. workforce—and its pipeline of students—is a growing concern among top business leaders. 

Last year, a group of more than 400 CEOs, including Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, DoorDash’s Tony Xu, and Airbnb’s Brian Chesky, signed a letter to lawmakers advocating for computer science and AI education to be part of the curriculum for every U.S. student.

“In the age of AI, we must prepare our children for the future—to be AI creators, not just consumers,” the CEOs wrote. “A basic foundation in computer science and AI is crucial for helping every student thrive in a technology-driven world. Without it, they risk falling behind.”

Overall, AI skills are becoming table stakes for workers, no matter the industry. AI literacy is the fastest-growing skill, according to LinkedIn, and two-thirds of business leaders said in a 2024 report that they wouldn’t hire someone without AI skills.

For Morris, closing the AI talent gap begins with employers investing directly in their workforces.

“We as big employers should be actively engaged in trying to equip our respective employees—in our case associates—to be prepared for a world that is AI-enabled and automated or digitized,” she said.

“If all of us collectively leaned into our workforces, where might we be?”

Broad-based AI training is a straightforward investment, she added—one that makes sense across roles and industries.

“I think the interesting and also exciting thing with AI is it’s almost job agnostic,” Morris said. “Regardless of what job you’re in, how I might use AI for my job might be different than you use it or somebody else uses it. So why not equip everybody?”