In the global arena, the advancement and creation of artificial intelligence is largely dominated by two powers: the United States and China. In 2024, private A.I. investment in the U.S. totaled $109.1 billion, and in China, it reached $9.3 billion. There are nations in distant third and fourth place, but they remain far behind these two superpowers. The U.K., Canada and Israel have made significant capital commitments to A.I.—but where is the rest of the world?
Europe, Asia and the Middle East all have both governmental and private interest in A.I., but they’re not making the same level of international noise as China and the U.S. However, there are five “sleeping giants” poised to join the ranks of A.I. superpowers in the coming years.
France bets big on sovereign A.I.
During the Paris AI Summit in February, French President Emmanuel Macron announced A.I. investments of €109 billion ($127 billion). This financing includes contributions from Canadian investment firm Brookfield, Amazon, Mistral and a host of others. The future of A.I. in France looks bright. Recent mapping of A.I. startups in the country shows a 27 percent increase in the past two years, raising the total number of new companies building or integrating A.I. to a staggering 781. That level of financial backing, paired with a fast-growing ecosystem, is a recipe for exponential innovation and growth.
India emerges as the largest democratic A.I. proving ground
India is becoming the world’s largest democratic A.I. laboratory. In January, Microsoft announced a $3 billion investment in A.I. and related infrastructure over two years in the country. According to an IBM survey, 97 percent of Indian organizations plan to increase or maintain their A.I. investments in 2025, signaling that companies are committed to A.I. in the long term. The government has committed over $1.25 billion to A.I. through its IndiaAI initiative to fund computing infrastructure, large language model development and A.I. startups. When paired with $1.4 billion in private capital, it becomes clear that India is positioning itself to play a central role in global A.I. development throughout this decade and beyond.
Vietnam’s agility could make it the A.I. underdog to watch
A dark horse in this global A.I. race could be Vietnam. Though small, the country’s size allows for agility in both government and industry. Nvidia announced in December that it would partner with the Vietnamese government to establish an A.I. center for research and development, indicating its confidence in the country’s A.I. future. The computing giant also acquired healthcare startup VinBrain and formed an alliance in April 2024 with IT heavyweight FPT Corporation to create a $200 million “one-stop” AI factory in Hanoi.
A.I. investment in Vietnam is quickly rising: from $10 million in 2023 to $80 million in 2024, plus another $2.3 billion in investment disbursements across 141 deals. That level of growth may not be sustainable, but the country’s trajectory is noteworthy.
The UAE is becoming the Middle East’s A.I. powerhouse
Microsoft made its bet with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a $1.5 billion stake in Abu Dhabi-based A.I. company G42. That backing from the third-largest company in the world, combined with the UAE’s nearly 500 A.I. companies (including two unicorns), makes it easy to see a path for the UAE to become a dominant global player in A.I..
In a major development, during President Trump’s recent trip to the UAE, the Gulf country and the U.S. agreed to build the largest A.I. campus outside of the United States. The deal reportedly includes permission for the UAE to import half a million of NVIDIA’s most advanced A.I. chips annually starting in 2025.
Saudi Arabia’s $940 billion A.I. vision
Saudi Arabia launched HUMAIN, a national A.I. initiative, in May under Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. It’s backed by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), which manages $940 billion in assets, of which HUMAIN is a key part. These moves signal Saudi Arabia’s ambition to compete on the global A.I. stage. The Kingdom is also building relationships with major U.S. tech firms.
CISCO recently joined HUMAIN’s alliance to develop Saudi Arabia’s national A.I. infrastructure. At the same time, Saudi Arabia is investing $40 billion in partnerships in Silicon Valley. Their dual strategy of investing both at home and abroad is a global notification that they will be a lasting force in the A.I. domain.
During the current administration’s recent Gulf visit, Saudi Arabia and NVIDIA announced a deal to build A.I. factories in the Kingdom. “Our partnership with NVIDIA is a bold step forward in realizing the Kingdom’s ambitions to lead in A.I. and advanced digital infrastructure,” said CEO of HUMAIN, Tareq Amin. “Together, we are building the capacity, capability and a new globally enabled community to shape a future powered by intelligent technology and empowered people.”
Geopolitics, chips and the race for A.I. dominance
There’s a waiting game to see how HUMAIN (Saudi Arabia) and G42 (UAE) differentiate themselves. Political dynamics in the region are shifting as the UAE and Saudi Arabia compete to become the leading tech hub in the Middle East.
We’ll have to wait to see what results from President Trump’s recent what the final details of any deals or investments look like. Still, an over-dependence on the United States in the near future could be risky given the volatility of political power over the past decade. Another presidential transition in just three and a half years could alter these alliances. While that may seem like a long time away domestically, globally, it’s the blink of an eye.
As the world looks today, the U.S. remains the global leader in A.I. innovation and investment, with China a distant second. But with significant new capital investments and growing institutional capacity in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, France, India and Vietnam, the global power map is beginning to shift. By 2027, 2030 and 2035, we may see new major contenders emerge, depending greatly on how effectively these nations turn momentum into infrastructure and innovation. Will they be able to supplant members of the EU and China, and fall just behind the U.S.? Time will only tell, but the fact that the U.S. is already betting on them suggests that the rest of the world may not be far behind.
Chetan Dube is an A.I. pioneer and the founder and CEO of Quant, which develops cutting-edge digital employee technology.