On 28th June 2023, Tortoise media released the fourth edition of their Tortoise Global AI Index, which uses a combination of indicators to assess a country's AI capacity. The Index uses 111 indicators, collected from, 28 different public and private data sources, and 62 governments. These are split into 7 sub pillars: Talent, Infrastructure, Operating environment, Research, Development, Government Strategy and Commercial. Associative themes group these indicators around three main pillars: Implementation, Innovation and Investment. The selected indicators reflect public-available information, use up-to-date data sources and critical issues in the AI sector. The Global AI Index uses the most recent available values. All values taken into consideration are no earlier than 2016, and a data-collection cut-off from 2016 onwards was also enforced. For the purposes of the analysis, the index also considered the temporal range for a ‘Startup Company’ to be ‘foundation since 2016’.

Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool that can transform various sectors, including business, government and society. To measure a country's AI capacity, it is important to understand its ability to harness such power. The Global AI Index organises itself around the concept of capacity, which refers to the amount of something that a system can contain or produce. In essence, increased capacity means an increased ability to generate and maintain artificial intelligence solutions both now and in the future. At a national level, greater adoption of AI results in more active systems, initiatives and personnel, and the quality of these factors is also improving. In the Global AI Index, capacity is measured through composite indicators that simplify a large amount of data into a set of numbers that reflect the underlying complexity of information. This helps to assess a nation's ability to adopt, manage and sustain AI systems in a productive, safe, and fair way.
The graph below shows the Global AI Index rank (62 countries). We categorized them region wise. The rankings are based on three pillars of analysis; investment, innovation and implementation.

The Tortoise Global AI Index reveals which countries are leading the global AI race and why. The United States continues to lead in the Global AI Index, followed by China. Singapore moved up to third place this year, surpassing the UK, which dropped to fourth. Canada rounds out the top five. The US scored a perfect 100, excelling in all three main categories: Implementation, Innovation, and Investment, thanks to several factors such as highly qualified talent, advancements in AI research and innovation, and large private funding going to AI startups. The US has a highly skilled workforce that is dedicated to research and development in AI, making it a global leader in this area. Furthermore, the US has a large number of AI startups that receive significant funding from private investors, which contributes to its top position in the ranking. China scored 62, with a notable strength in Innovation, while Singapore's explicit government efforts boosted it to third place. Nigeria, Sri Lanka, and Kenya scored the lowest due to poor infrastructure and low investment levels.
On the other hand, Singapore, Israel, and Switzerland lead the ranking on AI intensity, which measures AI capacity relative to their population and economy size. Singapore in particular stands out with its remarkable performance on both AI Intensity and Scale, which confirms the country’s ambitions to become a global AI hub. Singapore has been investing heavily in research and development in the field of AI, with its spending on AI research being 18 times larger than that of the US in relation to GDP. The country also hosts at least 270 active AI startups per million people.
The comprehensiveness of the source data set was considered when evaluating each indicator in the Global AI Index. Since some sources provide more complete data than others, the weighting system has also considered data completeness alongside the process of imputation for missing values. If data availability is limited, the relative weight of the indicator is reduced accordingly. The degree of confidence in the representativeness of the data is considered when weighing this factor. The weightings for each pillar are as follows: Talent 15%, Infrastructure 11%, Operating Environment 6%, Research 26%, Development 14%, Government Strategy 4%, and Commercial Ventures 24%. The purpose of weighting for comprehensiveness is to ensure the reliability of the information used to determine the overall scoring of the Global AI Index, by reducing the impact of unreliable data on the rankings.

India ranks 14th on the index. India's strong performance in the Talent sub-pillar, where it has maintained 2nd place since 2020, has contributed to its overall position in the ranking. India has expanded its technical workforce, but it still lags behind more advanced countries in AI innovation, despite having relatively low scores on Infrastructure, and Research. The issue of infrastructure was indicated by the World Intellectual Property Organisation released, Global Innovation Index as well. However, India has been continuously working on its infrastructure and research. The country has also established itself as an AI research and innovation powerhouse, ranking fourth in AI-relevant scholarly papers produced since 2010 and eighth in AI patents filed in 2020. Numerous Indian start-ups including Niramai, CropIn, and Aquaconnect are building AI tools and products to address national and global socio-economic challenges.
While India performs well across indicators that measure AI raw activity, it needs to focus on higher-level AI expertise to become a global AI hub.

Finally, the UK has moved from third to fourth place in this year's ranking. Although the UK holds an overall edge in Research, Talent, and Commercial Ecosystem for AI, Singapore's strong rise has contributed to its drop in the ranking. The UK has also been a recipient of significant inward AI investment, with $12.9 billion being invested in AI between 2013 and 2022, representing the third-highest in the world. However, UK-based investors are less involved in the funding of their own AI companies, especially since 2020. Domestic investment in the UK has been declining gradually since 2018, which may impact the country's position in the future.
The rising popularity of generative artificial intelligence has caused a frenzy in various sectors, including society, markets, governments, and businesses. Major tech companies are investing heavily in developing their AI models, while governments are being urged to address the regulatory gap.

To determine the generative AI capacity of different countries, a mini-index was created based on 10 indicators, which include academic papers, patents, and private investments related to generative AI. According to the index, the US remains on top, followed by China and the UK.
China has produced the highest number of research publications, but the US leads in terms of the most important publications. The areas of expertise also differ, with Chinese-authored papers on Generative Adversarial Networks receiving 62% more citations than US ones. However, US research on the text-based Large Language Model receives 39% more citations than in China.
Overall, the research papers suggest that China tops the mini-index by raw output but still lags behind the US in the most significant research on cutting-edge developments
US applicants have a clear lead in the number of granted generative AI patents, despite Chinese and US applicants filing a similar number. The UK appears to have a greater focus on generative AI, with a significantly higher proportion of generative AI patents within AI patents of any type compared to South Korea. Over 50% of generative AI startups are based in the US and have taken nearly 70% of global private investment, with the UK and Canada ranking second and third respectively in terms of the number of startups.
India's AI journey has social empowerment and inclusion at its core, focusing on solving age-old problems that have long plagued the country. While other leading global economies are engaged in an "arms race" to become the ultimate AI superpower, India has consciously focused on inclusion and empowerment through a program called "AI for All."
In recent years, India's public and private sectors have produced AI-powered tools that improve the delivery of health and security services, affecting millions of lives. These tools include the MyGov Corona Helpdesk, e-Paarvai, Uzhavan, real-time digital Authentication of Identity system, and Crowd Estimation and Management tool. The Ministry of Electronics and IT has launched initiatives such as India AI, the national AI portal, the YUVAi program for skilling students from government schools, the soon-to-be-implemented National Programme on Artificial Intelligence, the National Semiconductor Mission, the National Data Governance Framework Policy, and the New Digital Personal Data Protection Bill.
Being the world’s largest democracy, it becomes important how India looks at the technology frontiers. World leaders from the G20 summit held in India have highlighted the importance of promoting international cooperation and discussions related to international governance for AI. The G20 New Delhi Leaders' Declaration has welcomed the voluntary and suggested framework, 'G20 Framework for Systems of Digital Public Infrastructure', for the development, deployment and governance of DPI for the creation of a secure, trusted, accountable and inclusive digital public infrastructure (DPI) for service delivery and innovation while being respectful of human rights, personal data, privacy, and intellectual property rights.
The leaders have pledged to work together to promote international cooperation and discussions related to international governance for AI and to equitably share its benefits, mitigate risks and unlock its full potential. The G20 New Delhi Declaration has welcomed India's plan to build and maintain a Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository (GDPIR), a virtual repository of DPI, voluntarily shared by G20 members and beyond. Along with the Indian Presidency's proposal of the One Future Alliance (OFA), a voluntary initiative aimed at building capacity and providing technical assistance and adequate funding support for implementing DPI in Low- Middle-income countries. The Declaration also reaffirms the importance of data-free flow with trust and cross-border data flows while respecting applicable legal frameworks. By pursuing a pro-innovation regulatory/governance approach, the G20 leaders aim to maximise the benefits and take into account the risks associated with the use of AI.
The development and deployment of AI present both opportunities and challenges across the globe. However, without responsible governance and multilateral reform, there may be adverse consequences. Current global AI governance initiatives do not consider the realities of the developing and least developed countries making multilateral reform a necessity to ensure international cooperation, address power consolidation, distribute digital dividends more equitably, and mitigate existential AI risks. The fragmented international regulatory regime lacks clear harmonised guidelines, values, and technical standards, making it difficult for developing countries especially in the Global South to compete with technologically advanced high-income countries in the Global North.
Power asymmetries need to be addressed to increase the influence of key stakeholders in shaping global AI governance. Formal decision-making needs to be put in place to ensure consistency in the global AI governance landscape. AI can contribute significantly to transnational Science and Technology ecosystems by improving collaboration, accelerating innovation, and improving the efficiency of R&D processes. Data governance plays a crucial role in AI governance since the quality and integrity of machine-readable data can significantly impact AI outcomes. Effective data governance is necessary to develop and implement ethical, responsible, and effective AI technologies.

Countries that are already equipped with critical digital infrastructure and have higher internet penetration are the most prepared to benefit from AI and technological progress. However, the Global South is potentially more vulnerable to the estimated harms of AI due to constraints. The benefits of technological disruptions are unevenly distributed, and the countries with the highest number of innovators, shareholders, and investors will be the biggest beneficiaries of AI, which may widen the wealth disparity between countries relying on capital and those relying on labour and natural resources.
References:
Jibu Elias. (2023, January 30). AI for all: How India is carving its own path in the global AI race. Retrieved from https://oecd.ai/fr/wonk/india
Www.ETTelecom.com. (2023, September 10). G20 leaders call for global governance for AI, inclusive digital public infra for service delivery. Retrieved from https://telecom.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/policy/g20-leaders-call-for-global-governance-for-ai-inclusive-digital-public-infra-for-service-delivery/103546963
Serena Cesareo, Joe White, Alex Inch. (2023, June 28). The global artificial intelligence index. Retrieved from https://www.tortoisemedia.com/2023/06/28/the-global-artificial-intelligence-index/
The Global AI Index. (2023). The global AI index. Retrieved from https://www.tortoisemedia.com/intelligence/global-ai/#further_reading
SHAMIRA AHMEDDIO, HERDIAWAN TOBING, MOHAMMED SOLIMAN. (2023). Why the G20 Should Lead Multilateral Reform for Inclusive Responsible AI Governance for the Global South. Retrieved from https://www.orfonline.org/research/why-the-g20-should-lead-multilateral-reform-for-inclusive-responsible-ai-governance/#:~:text=This%20will%20help%20guarantee%20that,Global%20South%20and%20Global%20North