1. National AI strategies are expanding fastest among countries that had no formal AI policy five years ago.

In 2024, more than half of newly adopted strategies came from emerging economies and, as of 2025, additional countries across sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East have strategies in active development.

2. AI sovereignty, the goal of gaining more agency over domestic AI capabilities, is emerging as a central principle of national AI policy, but the infrastructure underpinning it is unevenly distributed.

Between 2018 and 2025, Europe and Central Asia expanded state-backed AI supercomputing clusters from 3 to 44. South Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East and North Africa have only reached between 2, 3 and 8 each.

3. Regions are taking different approaches to data sovereignty.

Through 2024, East Asia and the Pacific had adopted 77 data localization measures, followed by sub-Saharan Africa with 71 and Europe and Central Asia with 66. North America, by contrast, recorded only 3, reflecting a different approach to cross-border data flows.

4. AI-related witnesses in U.S. congressional hearings have grown twentyfold since 2017.

The number rose from 5 in 2017 to 102 in 2025. Industry’s share nearly tripled from 13% to 37%, making it the largest witness group, while academia’s share fell to 15%.

5. U.S. public investment in AI remains modest compared to private-sector spending.

Between 2013 and 2024, the United States invested approximately $20.4 billion in AI-related contracts and grants, against $285.9 billion in U.S. private investment in 2025 alone.

6. European AI public commitments reached approximately $3.7 billion in contracts over 2013–2024.

The United Kingdom accounted for $1.6 billion, followed by Germany with $505 million and France with $320 million. Recent spending is accelerating as well. In 2024 alone, the U.K. committed $454.4 million (28% of its decade total) and Germany committed $206.6 million (40% of its total).

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