Who is Nathan Chen, the Chinese teen AI prodigy being courted by Silicon Valley?

A 17-year-old artificial intelligence researcher formerly with Moonshot AI has announced his departure for the United States, sparking intense speculation about his next move amid heated competition for elite talent between Silicon Valley and China’s tech hubs.

Nathan Chen Guangyu wrote on social media on Thursday that he had left the Beijing-based start-up after less than a year, describing his time there as “the best [year] of my life so far”.

The announcement caught many industry observers by...