The U.S. Is Still the Global Leader in Artificial Intelligence
From pushing forward ambitious national strategies to boasting about plans to take over the tech world, nations are racing to achieve a global innovation advantage in the use of artificial intelligence. Yet after years of threatening U.S. leadership in the area, experts say Chinese ambitions have thus far failed and America still leads in the research and use of AI.
In 2017, China released a strategic plan saying it will lead the world in AI technology by 2025. That has yet to happen, says the Washington-based Center for Data Innovation or CDI, and China is still behind the U.S. States by several metrics.
"Despite China's bold AI initiative, the United States still leads in absolute terms; China comes in second, and the European Union lags further behind," say the authors of a new CDI report that looked at talent, research, development, adoption, data, and hardware in the AI space.
This order could change in coming years, the report adds, as China is making "more rapid progress than either the United States or the E uropean Union."
The U.S. States leads in AI in four of the six categories in the CDI report: talent, research, development, and hardware. Out of 100 total available points in CDI's scoring methodology, the U.S. received 44.2 points, followed by China with 32.3 and the European Union with 23.5. The Chinese lead in the CDI's other two categories: adoption of AI and data.
"(The U.S.) has the most AI start-ups, with its AI start-up ecosystem having received the most private equity and venture capital funding," say the authors of the CDI report. "It leads in the development of both traditional semiconductors and the computer chips that power AI systems; while it produces fewer AI scholarly papers than the EU or China, it produces the highest-quality papers on average."
In addition, the United States has the leading AI talent in the world, although it has access to less overall AI talent than the European Union.
China surpassed the European Union in AI and "appears to be quickly reducing the gap between itself and the United States," the CDI report adds. The Chinese have more data than the EU and U.S. -- the "fuel" of AI technology and accurate AI models.
Chinese AI startups also received more funding than U.S. start-ups in 2017, but lagged behind their American rivals in 2018. Yet when it comes to talent, China is behind both the EU and the U.S.
"China is starting to show an ability to increase the quality of its research which has been one of its weaknesses historically, as well as get significant funding," says Michael McLaughlin, research assistant at the Center for Data Innovation. Still, several European Union member states reported more AI researchers in the top 10 percent internationally than China in 2017.
Sintia Radu covers international affairs and technology for U.S. News & World Report. You can follow her on Twitter @sintiaradu and send her suggestions and ideas at sradu@usnews.com.
