The U.S. leads the world in AI. Here’s who else is at the top

China received maximum scores across seven indicators: AI journal publications, AI conference publications, AI journal citations, AI patent grants, total AI public offering investment, national AI strategy presence, and internet speed.

The country has “substantial strengths in R&D [research and development], Economy, and Infrastructure,” according to the paper.

But China is outpaced by the U.S. in several indicators, including AI-related private investment. In 2023, the U.S. attracted $67.2 billion in AI-related private investment, while China attracted $7.8 billion. The U.S. also produced more machine learning models than China, at 61 to 15.

China, however, produced more AI-related patents than the U.S. last year.

“China’s strength in research and development is unsurprising, given that many Chinese universities, such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, have traditionally produced a high number of AI-related publications,” the paper said.