The nations that lead in the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) will shape the future of the technology and significantly improve their economic competitiveness, while those that fall behind risk losing competitiveness in key industries. This report examines the progress China, the European Union, and the United States have made in AI relative to each other in recent years and provides an update on a report released on their comparative rankings from 2019. It finds that the United States still holds a substantial overall lead, but that China has continued to reduce the gap in some important areas. In addition, the EU continues to fall behind. Absent significant policy changes in both the EU and United States—particularly the EU changing its regulatory system to be more innovation-friendly, and the United States developing and funding a more proactive national AI strategy—it is likely that the EU will remain behind both the United States and China, and that China will eventually close the gap with the United States.
Who Is Winning the AI Race: China, the EU, or the United States? — 2021 Update
Daniel Castro
Daniel Castro is president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF), the world’s top-ranked think tank for science and technology policy, where he leads the organization’s work shaping debates on critical issues at the intersection of technological innovation and public policy. He is a prolific writer and respected public speaker on issues ranging from Internet policy and digital governance to artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. Castro also founded and is director of ITIF’s Center for Data Innovation, a leading voice on open data, artificial intelligence, and digital transformation. He has played a key role in advancing the OPEN Government Data Act and has long worked on the policy and economic impact of data-driven innovation. His work on AI spans a broad range of policy issues, including adoption and diffusion, privacy and security, intellectual property, deepfakes and information integrity, and the economic and competitive dynamics of AI, as well as global competition and governance—particularly in China and Europe.
Michael McLaughlin
Michael McLaughlin is a research analyst at the Center for Data Innovation. He researches and writes about a variety of issues related to information technology and Internet policy, including digital platforms, e-government, and artificial intelligence. Michael graduated from Wake Forest University, where he majored in Communication with Minors in Politics and International Affairs and Journalism. He received his Master’s in Communication at Stanford University, specializing in Data Journalism.
