Still, when we look at the actual implementation of AI, the US dominates across almost all the measures tracked by the Global AI Vibrancy ranking, including its R&D ecosystem, advanced computing and communications infrastructure, newly funded AI companies, and AI job postings. In 2023, the US produced 61 machine learning models and 109 foundation models, i.e. Large X Models (LxM), i.e. machine learning or deep learning models that are trained on huge data sets. China followed in second place with 15 and 20 models, respectively. Also, when it comes to investments, the US is leading by a large extent. While total AI private investments amounted to about $8 billion in China, and some $7 billion in the EU, the US saw $68 billion in 2023.
President Trump’s recent efforts aim to maintain this lead. The new AI Action Plan seeks to enhance the United States’ leadership in AI technology, inviting the public to share policy ideas to “define priority policy actions to enhance America’s position as an AI powerhouse and prevent unnecessarily burdensome requirements from hindering private sector innovation.” The US administration also supports the private joint venture AI initiative from OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle, among others, worth $500 billion, called Project Stargate. The US government is facilitating regulatory approvals for the project. Apple has also announced its largest-ever investment commitment, pledging to spend $500 billion in the US over the next four years to support AI development, silicon engineering, and advanced manufacturing.
