Nations race for AI dominance as global power shifts

Nations race for AI dominance as global power shifts

Nations race for AI dominance as global power shifts
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Artificial intelligence is no longer just a technological breakthrough; it is quickly becoming a linchpin of global power. While countries once focused on military alliances, industrial capacity, or energy resources, many now see AI as a crucial part of their national security and economic strategy.

This notion of “AI sovereignty” recognizes that whoever masters key components of the AI stack — ranging from high-performance computing to regulatory policy — will profoundly influence the world stage. Far from an abstract concern, governments across the globe are already putting billions of dollars into AI labs, ordering top-tier chips, and positioning themselves to attract or develop frontier technologies.

In the next few years, national leaders face a fundamental choice about how they will obtain the compute, data, energy, and regulatory frameworks that power advanced AI models. Some may opt to “build,” pouring resources into domestic research labs, data centers, and homegrown talent. Others may decide to “buy,” forming alliances with hypercenter nations or corporations that can supply cutting-edge hardware and knowledge.

This “build vs. buy” decision is not new in the history of technology. Countries grappled with similar questions when electricity, railroads, and telecommunication networks first arose. However, AI’s speed of evolution and its capacity to encode cultural values and worldviews in digital form make today’s decisions especially urgent.

One way to evaluate a nation’s AI potential is through four interlocking pillars: compute, data, energy, and policy.

Compute refers to access to high-performance hardware capable of training and running large AI models, often requiring specialized chips like graphics processing units. Data encompasses the quantity and quality of datasets that train AI systems necessary for advanced model capabilities.

Energy is the cost and availability of electricity — an increasingly critical factor because running large-scale AI workloads consumes enormous power. Finally, policy determines how governments regulate AI development, protect intellectual property, and set ethical boundaries on model usage.

Countries that have excelled in any of these pillars have a head start. The US has long been a leader in compute, hosting major chip manufacturers and cloud infrastructure giants. China is similarly advanced, although unique legal frameworks allow it to mobilize private-sector resources at scale.

Nations in the Middle East hold a comparative advantage in energy — ample reserves and low-cost power that could transform their economies into AI super-hubs if strategically paired with strong data-center construction and top research talent.

Meanwhile, regions like Europe are pushing forward on policy, trying to articulate a coherent approach to regulating AI models while safeguarding innovation.

For most nations, it is impractical to dominate all four pillars single handedly. At least in the near term, sovereignty does not require building everything in-house. Instead, the goal is to avoid dependence on unreliable or misaligned partners for any critical element of AI infrastructure.

Where a country lacks robust data center facilities, it might ally with a corporate cloud provider or a friendly state that can host compute capacity. Where local energy costs are high, a government might incentivize green power initiatives or forge international agreements to secure long-term energy contracts, thus creating an environment to attract AI labs and startups. The critical question is whether a nation can trust these alliances to remain stable and beneficial over time, particularly if geopolitical winds shift.

AI truly is a new dimension of geopolitics; therefore, each country can align its strengths toward building a robust AI ecosystem.

Mohammed A. Al-Qarni 

Leaders making these calculations should pay attention to several key indicators. First, watch where high-end computing hardware is flowing. Early chip orders and multi-year contracts for GPUs, tensor processing units, or specialized accelerators often signal a commitment to becoming an AI “hypercenter.”

Second, look for data-center investments and energy infrastructure expansions; both strong predictors of a nation’s ambition to host large-scale AI projects. Third, monitor research ecosystems: Are universities expanding AI curricula, are local tech firms partnering with global AI players, and is there a surge in AI talent visas or exchange programs?

Finally, observe the regulatory front. A patchwork of conflicting rules deters AI innovators and pushes them elsewhere, so any coherent federal-level framework is a sign a government wants to compete effectively.

Practically, policymakers can prepare in a few ways. They can provide clarity on data usage, ensuring local researchers have access to large, high-quality datasets while respecting privacy and ethical considerations.

They can incentivize the private sector to build and operate advanced data centers domestically, particularly if cheap energy is abundant. They might form strategic alliances, bilateral or regional treaties to pool resources and share the burden of significant infrastructure costs. And crucially, they can invest heavily in AI education and training, cultivating a workforce capable of building and maintaining sophisticated systems.

These efforts foster self-sufficiency and signal to international partners that a nation is a credible, capable ally in collaborative ventures.

Those who underestimate AI’s geopolitical significance may be left scrambling for relevance as alliances solidify around the countries and corporations that control the fundamentals. For instance, missing the chance to secure a pipeline of GPUs can mean lagging years behind in frontier AI research.

Failing to craft a coherent data policy could deter innovators, while moral and cultural values are shaped elsewhere. And overlooking the crucial role of energy means watching from the sidelines as other regions with the right mix of power, computing, and policy surge ahead.

This may sound daunting, but it also represents an unprecedented opportunity. AI truly is a new dimension of geopolitics; therefore, each country can align its strengths — abundant energy, a tradition of technical expertise, or a highly skilled workforce — toward building a robust AI ecosystem.

The path need not be isolationist; international partnerships and private-sector collaboration can fill gaps in a nation’s strategy, provided mutual trust and a well-defined division of responsibilities exist.

What matters is that leaders recognize the shift now, weigh their options, and act before the global map of AI power becomes locked in place. In the near term, sovereignty is about ensuring you have choices rather than being at the mercy of those who took the AI revolution seriously first.

Mohammed A. Al-Qarni is an academic and consultant on AI for business.

 

Disclaimer: Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Arab News' point of view

OpenAI abandons plan to become for-profit company

OpenAI abandons plan to become for-profit company
Updated 3 min 19 sec ago
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OpenAI abandons plan to become for-profit company

OpenAI abandons plan to become for-profit company

SAN FRANCISCO: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced Monday that the company behind ChatGPT will continue to be run as a nonprofit, abandoning a contested plan to convert into a for-profit organization.
The structural issue had become a significant point of contention for the artificial intelligence (AI) pioneer, with major investors pushing for the change to better secure their returns.
AI safety advocates had expressed concerns about pursuing substantial profits from such powerful technology without the oversight of a nonprofit board of directors acting in society’s interest rather than for shareholder profits.
“OpenAI is not a normal company and never will be,” Altman wrote in an email to staff posted on the company’s website.
“We made the decision for the nonprofit to stay in control after hearing from civic leaders and having discussions with the offices of the Attorneys General of California and Delaware,” he added.
OpenAI was founded as a nonprofit in 2015 and later created a “capped” for-profit entity allowing limited profit-making to attract investors, with cloud computing giant Microsoft becoming the largest early backer.
This arrangement nearly collapsed in 2023 when the board unexpectedly fired Altman. Staff revolted, leading to Altman’s reinstatement while those responsible for his dismissal departed.
Alarmed by the instability, investors demanded OpenAI transition to a more traditional for-profit structure within two years.
Under its initial reform plan revealed last year, OpenAI would have become an outright for-profit public benefit corporation (PBC), reassuring investors considering the tens of billions of dollars necessary to fulfill the company’s ambitions.
Any status change, however, requires approval from state governments in California and Delaware, where the company is headquartered and registered, respectively.
The plan faced strong criticism from AI safety activists and co-founder Elon Musk, who sued the company he left in 2018, claiming the proposal violated its founding philosophy.
In the revised plan, OpenAI’s money-making arm will now be fully open to generate profits but, crucially, will remain under the nonprofit board’s supervision.
“We believe this sets us up to continue to make rapid, safe progress and to put great AI in the hands of everyone,” Altman said.
OpenAI’s major investors will likely have a say in this proposal, with Japanese investment giant SoftBank having made the change to being a for-profit a condition for their massive $30 billion investment announced on March 31.
In an official document, SoftBank stated its total investment could be reduced to $20 billion if OpenAI does not restructure into a for-profit entity by year-end.
The substantial cash injections are needed to cover OpenAI’s colossal computing requirements to build increasingly energy-intensive and complex AI models.
The company’s original vision did not contemplate “the needs for hundreds of billions of dollars of compute to train models and serve users,” Altman said.
SoftBank’s contribution in March represented the majority of the $40 billion raised in a funding round that valued the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion, marking the largest capital-raising event ever for a startup.
The company, led by Altman, has become one of Silicon Valley’s most successful startups, propelled to prominence in 2022 with the release of ChatGPT, its generative AI chatbot.


Nottingham Forest draws at Crystal Palace as Champions League hopes fade

Nottingham Forest draws at Crystal Palace as Champions League hopes fade
Updated 5 min 30 sec ago
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Nottingham Forest draws at Crystal Palace as Champions League hopes fade

Nottingham Forest draws at Crystal Palace as Champions League hopes fade
  • A win at Selhurst Park would have brought them equal with Chelsea and Newcastle but one point means it stays in sixth

LONDON: Nottingham Forest drew with Crystal Palace 1-1 in the Premier League on Monday and saw its Champions League hopes fade.
Nuno Espírito Santo’s men have spent most of the year in the league top three but a run of one win in four has dropped them behind Chelsea, Newcastle and a resurgent Manchester City.
A win at Selhurst Park would have brought them equal with Chelsea and Newcastle but one point means it stays in sixth, with the top five qualifying for next season’s Champions League.
Neither team was able to take control of a sometimes scrappy match that saw eight names go in the referee’s book.
Palace took the lead with a penalty kick after an hour. After a video review, Matz Sels was adjudged to have felled Tyrick Mitchell and Eberechi Eze made no mistake from the spot.
Forest bounced right back within four minutes, Murillo doing enough to deflect a goal-bound shot from Neco Williams away from the keeper.
Eze hitting the woodwork in the dying seconds and Eddie Nketiah having a goal disallowed for offside in stoppage time meant FA Cup finalist Palace has not won any of its last five league games.


Ukraine’s attack damages power substation in Russia’s Kursk region, regional governor says

Ukraine’s attack damages power substation in Russia’s Kursk region, regional governor says
Updated 18 min 39 sec ago
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Ukraine’s attack damages power substation in Russia’s Kursk region, regional governor says

Ukraine’s attack damages power substation in Russia’s Kursk region, regional governor says
  • Two teenagers were injured in the attack

Ukraine’s attack late on Monday damaged a power substation in Russia’s Kursk region and injured two teenagers, the governor of the Russian region on the border with Ukraine said.
The attack on the power substation in the town of Rylsk damaged two transformers and cut off power, Alexander Khinshtein, the acting governor of the Kursk region, said on the Telegram messaging app. 


Trump’s Alcatraz prison restoration plan gets cold reception from tourists

Trump’s Alcatraz prison restoration plan gets cold reception from tourists
Updated 22 min 44 sec ago
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Trump’s Alcatraz prison restoration plan gets cold reception from tourists

Trump’s Alcatraz prison restoration plan gets cold reception from tourists
  • Site known as ‘The Rock’ draws 1.2 million tourists a year
  • US closed prison in 1963 due costs of operating on an island

SAN FRANCISCO: US President Donald Trump’s plan to turn Alcatraz back into a federal prison was summarily rejected on Monday by some visitors to the tourist site in San Francisco Bay.
Trump revealed a plan over the weekend to rebuild and expand the notorious island prison, a historic landmark known as “The Rock” and operated by the US government’s National Park Service. It’s “just an idea I’ve had,” he said.
“We need law and order in this country. So we’re going to look at it,” he added on Monday.
Once nearly impossible to leave, the island can be difficult to get to because of competition for tickets. Alcatraz prison held fewer than 300 inmates at a time before it was closed in 1963 and draws roughly 1.2 million tourists a year.
US Bureau of Prisons Director William Marshall said on Monday he would vigorously pursue the president’s agenda and was looking at next steps.
“It’s a waste of money,” said visitor Ben Stripe from Santa Ana, California. “After walking around and seeing this place and the condition it’s in, it is just way too expensive to refurbish.” he said.
“It’s not feasible to have somebody still live here,” agreed Cindy Lacomb from Phoenix, Arizona, who imagined replacing all the metal in the cells and rebuilding the crumbling concrete.
The sprawling site is in disrepair, with peeling paint and rusting locks and cell bars. Signs reading “Area closed for your safety” block off access to many parts of the grounds. Chemical toilets sit next to permanent restrooms closed off for repair.
The former home of Al Capone and other notable inmates was known for tough treatment, including pitch-black isolation cells. It was billed as America’s most secure prison given the island location, frigid waters and strong currents.
It was closed because of high operating costs. The island also was claimed by Native American activists in 1969, an act of civil disobedience acknowledged by the National Park Service.
Mike Forbes, visiting from Pittsburgh, said it should remain a part of history. “I’m a former prison guard and rehabilitation is real. Punishment is best left in the past,” Forbes said.
No successful escapes were ever officially recorded from Alcatraz, though five prisoners were listed as “missing and presumed drowned.”
Today a “Supermax” facility located in Florence, Colorado, about 115 miles (185 km) south of Denver, is nicknamed the “Alcatraz of the Rockies.” No one has ever escaped from that 375-inmate facility since it opened in 1994.
Congress in fiscal year 2024 cut the Bureau of Prisons infrastructure budget by 38 percent and prison officials have previously reported a $3 billion maintenance backlog. The Bureau of Prisons last year said it would close aging prisons, as it struggled with funding cuts. 


18 British student groups support legal action to remove Hamas from UK terror list

18 British student groups support legal action to remove Hamas from UK terror list
Updated 28 min 12 sec ago
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18 British student groups support legal action to remove Hamas from UK terror list

18 British student groups support legal action to remove Hamas from UK terror list
  • The groups, some of which are affiliated with student unions at leading universities, say the ban ‘creates an atmosphere where advocacy for Palestine becomes a legal risk’
  • The prohibition of Hamas means it is a criminal offense for anyone in the UK to have links with the organization or show support for it

LONDON: Eighteen student groups at British universities have supported legal moves to remove Hamas from the UK’s list of proscribed terrorist organizations.

Some of the groups are affiliated with student unions at leading UK academic institutions, including the London School of Economics, the University of Edinburgh, and University College London.

The groups said the legal petition “defends the right of students, academics and communities to think freely, speak openly and organize without fear of being criminalized,” The Times newspaper reported on Monday.

In April, senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk instructed British firm Riverway Law to take legal action with the aim of removing his organization from a Home Office list of terrorist groups. The military wing of Hamas was banned by UK authorities in 2001. The ban was extended in 2021 to include its political bureau.

Lawyers from the firm said in April that by banning Hamas, “Britain is effectively denying the Palestinians the right to defend themselves.” The organization “does not pose any threat” to Britain’s national security, they added, and the ban was therefore “disproportionate.”

The prohibition of Hamas means it is a criminal offense for anyone in the UK to have any links with the organization or show support for it.

The student groups said the ban on Hamas “creates an atmosphere where advocacy for Palestine becomes a legal risk,” and students who participated in pro-Palestinian activism faced intimidation and threats.

“We therefore stand in support of Riverway Law’s application to deproscribe Hamas, not as an endorsement of any group, but to protect the civic space essential for academic freedom and open inquiry,” they said.

The student organizations backing the legal challenge include Edinburgh University Justice for Palestine Society, LSE Divest Encampment for Liberation, University of Birmingham Friends of Palestine, Newcastle Apartheid Off Campus, and the Students Against Apartheid Coalition at the University of Leeds.