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Semafor Signals

The global AI race is increasingly multipolar

Dec 16, 2024, 8:04am EST
North America
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Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/Reuters
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The News

The global artificial intelligence rivalry centers around the US and China, but ”middle powers″ are reshaping the geopolitics of AI, Boston Consulting Group argued.

The European Union, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE all have their own “distinct strengths,” analysts wrote in a recently published analysis: The EU has talent and a startup ecosystem, the Asian nations are crucial for hardware and have concentrated tech ecosystems, and the Gulf powers benefit from huge pools of capital and cheap energy.

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“Relying solely on... companies in the US or China could pose serious challenges… A more multipolar supply of GenAI increases complexity, [but] it would also create critical optionality.”

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SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

The gap between the US and the rest remains huge

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Sources:  
Tortoise Media, EQT

The US continues to top Tortoise Media’s Global AI Index, with China trailing in second place by some distance, but the next eight highest scoring nations, including Singapore, the UK, and France, aren’t far behind Beijing on AI capacity. Still, the gulf between the US and Europe remains massive, with the combined market capitalization of Europe’s seven largest tech firms 20 times lower than that of the US’ so-called “Magnificent Seven”: American companies’ ability to “innovate, scale, and capture global markets” sets them apart, EQT noted. “By ramping up investment in R&D and adopting a more innovative and risk-taking mindset, Europe can ensure it has a seat at the table and is ready to play,” it wrote.

Gulf countries are finding it hard to attract tech talent

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Sources:  
Boston Consulting Group, McKinsey & Company, Arab News

Gulf states are using their vast sovereign wealth funds to fuel technological acceleration, though it’s unclear whether countries like Saudi Arabia and the UAE can grow their talent pools enough to foster a self-sustaining model-development ecosystem, Boston Consulting Group wrote. A recent study by McKinsey & Company found that senior executives and board directors said it was difficult for Gulf Cooperation Council companies to fill roles and attract new talent, citing the region’s relative lack of AI maturity. There’s intense interest in AI, but often insufficient training for workers on how to use such tools safely, which also creates risks of data loss and misinformation, a global management consultancy CEO argued in Arab News.

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