In an international survey, which countries are developing the most advanced AI technologies? The United States ranks first, followed by China and the European Union. However, these countries are far from perfect. As they are far from achieving their AI goals, they are still in the lead, but there is room for improvement. China has a much better AI infrastructure than the U.S., which means that it can use AI more effectively.
In 2016, China was the fourth most prolific country when it comes to publishing AI papers. That’s less than half the output of Germany. Then, in the following three years, China steadily increased its output, gaining a place in second place by 2019. In the meantime, the U.S., the UK and the European Union were not far behind. But, the United States still leads the world when it comes to AI talent.
However, the producer countries are not so good at attracting and retaining talent. Israel and India, which are the world’s leading producers of AI talent, did poorly in both measures. The latter improved its score over five years but has suffered setbacks in retaining talent. In contrast, Japan has made great strides and is among the leading countries in AI talent inflow. And, despite the poor ranking, Canada is building an $127 million AI research facility.
In terms of the adoption of AI technology, the European region has seen the greatest adoption. While the United States is the leader in the US and China, the UK is trailing behind. In the rest of the world, however, countries that are better at AI adoption tend to do better in developing regions. It’s also important to note that if a country wants to rule the world with AI, they must be willing to work together with others.