This seems low. Are there fewer than 10k people with a master's in the subject in the entire world? How do you think they calculated it?
"Solving tough A.I. problems is not like building the flavor-of-the-month smartphone app. In the entire world, fewer than 10,000 people have the skills necessary to tackle serious artificial intelligence research, according to Element AI, an independent lab in Montreal." https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/22/technology/artificial-intelligence-experts-salaries.html?