Top 10 Countries Leading in AI Research & Technology in 2025

The artificial intelligence (AI) arms race intensifies, with some nations taking the lead in groundbreaking research and developments. Some dominate in research publications, while others excel in foundation models, machine learning (ML) breakthroughs, and open-source contributions.

So, which top AI countries are genuinely ahead of the game? Let’s find out.

Key Takeaways

The US leads in AI research, foundation models, and R&D investments.
China dominates in AI research publications and challenges US leadership.
The UK is Europe’s AI powerhouse with strong government backing.
France and Canada excel in machine learning and AI development.
India, Singapore, Germany, Israel, and South Korea drive key AI innovations.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

Key Takeaways
How We Ranked the Top AI Countries
Top 10 Countries in AI Research & Development
The Bottom Line
FAQs
References

Table of Contents

Key Takeaways
How We Ranked the Top AI Countries
Top 10 Countries in AI Research & Development

Show Full Guide

The Bottom Line
FAQs
References

How We Ranked the Top AI Countries

AI leadership is not just about publishing research papers or creating new models. It also depends on how countries apply AI and invest in its future.

We reveal the top countries in AI research and development as of 2025 based on the following rankings:

We used the following criteria:

AI model development: The number of machine learning (ML) models and foundation models a country has created (Stanford AI Index Report).
Open-source contributions: We looked at the number of GitHub AI projects and awarded GitHub stars by country, which shows how active developers are in AI and how widely AI projects are used (Stanford AI Index Report).
AI research publications: This includes the number of scientific AI papers and overall AI research output, showing how much each country contributes to AI knowledge (Digital Science, OECD).
AI R&D investment and innovation: We considered rankings in overall AI R&D, which reflected the creation of important AI platforms and algorithms, the number of AI patents, and how universities and companies work together on AI projects (Tortoise Media, Stanford Global AI Vibrancy Tool).

Considering these factors, we identified the top countries in AI development, research, and real-world applications. Now, let’s look at the leaderboard.

Top 10 Countries in AI Research & Development

Rank	Country	Key Strengths in AI Research & Development
1	United States	#1 in AI foundation models, ML models, GitHub projects, AI R&D, and research output.
2	China	#1 in AI research publications, #2 in foundation models and ML models.
3	United Kingdom	Europe’s AI leader, strong government backing, #3 in foundation models.
4	France	#3 in ML models, major AI investments, strong AI research ecosystem.
5	Canada	#5 in ML models, AI foundation models, and AI research output.
6	India	#2 in AI R&D, #3 in AI research publications, strong open-source contributions.
7	Singapore	#3 in AI research output, rising AI hub with major government initiatives.
8	Germany	Strong in ML models, AI-driven automation, and ethical AI development.
9	Israel	Thriving AI startup ecosystem, #6 in ML models, major industry investments.
10	South Korea	AI-driven healthcare innovations, #7 in AI R&D, expanding AI applications.

1. United States

The US remains the dominant force in AI research and technology, demonstrating AI leadership by ranking #1 in nearly every AI-related metric across multiple reports:

#1 in the number of AI foundation models, ML models, GitHub AI projects, and GitHub stars on AI projects (Stanford AI Index Report)
#1 in AI R&D and research output (Stanford Global Vibrancy Tool, Tortoise Media)
#1 in number of AI scientific publications (OECD)
#3 in the number of AI research publications (Digital Science)

Silicon Valley alone is home to some of the industry’s most prominent vendors, making American AI a driving force in global innovation, with companies like OpenAI, Google, Meta, and Anthropic. These companies have contributed to leading products, including GPT-4, DALL E-3, Gemini, Llama 2, and Claude 3.

To stay ahead in AI research, the US is also making huge investments in American AI infrastructure. One of the biggest projects is the Stargate AI Infrastructure Project, which was announced in January 2025 by OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle, and MGX.

This $500 billion initiative will build several high-powered AI data centers across the country, increasing computing power and supporting the development of future AI models.

2. China

China is the most significant global competitor to the US, solidifying its position among the top countries in AI research:

#1 in the number of AI research publications (OECD, Digital Science)
#2 in the number of foundation models and ML models (Stanford AI Index Report)
#2 in research output and R&D (Tortoise Media, Stanford Global Vibrancy Tool)
#4 in the number of GitHub stars on AI projects (Stanford AI Index Report)
#5 in the number of GitHub AI projects (Stanford AI Index Report)

Companies like Tencent, Huawei, and Baidu lead the country’s AI innovation.

However, the most recent development that left a global ripple was the DeepSeek R1 Model, introduced in January 2025 by the Chinese AI startup DeepSeek. This open-source LLM competes with top Western AI models, but it was developed at a much lower cost.

Other Chinese AI startups that draw much public attention include Moonshot’s Kimi AI, Stepfun, Zhipu AI, Doubao, and more.

3. UK

The UK remains Europe’s AI powerhouse, with strong government support and a thriving private sector:

#3 in the number of AI foundation models and number of GitHub stars on AI projects (Stanford AI Index Report)
#4 in the number of AI research publications and AI research output (OECD, Tortoise Media)
#4 in the number of GitHub AI projects and in AI R&D (Stanford AI Index Report, Stanford Global Vibrancy Tool)
#5 in the number of AI research publications (Digital Science)
#7 in the number of ML models (Stanford AI Index Report)

One of the UK’s biggest strengths in its AI leadership is its government support and national AI strategy.

In January 2025, Prime Minister Keir Starmer introduced the Government’s AI Integration Plan, which aims to increase AI computing power twentyfold by 2030. This plan will integrate AI into public services, helping with transport, healthcare, and education. The project is expected to add up to £470 billion to the UK economy over the next ten years.

4. France

France is another of Europe’s top AI countries, supported by government initiatives and a strong AI ecosystem:

#3 in the number of ML models (Stanford AI Index Report)
#5 in research output (Tortoise Media)
#9 in AI R&D (Stanford Global Vibrancy Tool)

France’s role in AI research is further underscored by recent government initiatives. In February 2025, during the AI Action Summit in Paris, President Emmanuel Macron announced a €109 billion (approximately $112 billion in today’s exchange rates) investment plan for AI.

This plan aims to boost France’s position in the global AI industry by developing AI infrastructure, including computing clusters and data centers.

5. Canada

Canada has also become a key player in AI research, driven by strong universities, government support, and a growing AI industry:

#5 in the number of notable ML models and AI foundation models (Stanford AI Index Report)
#6 in AI R&D (Stanford Global Vibrancy Tool)
#7 in the number of AI scientific publications (Digital Science)
#9 in research output (OECD, Tortoise Media)

To further strengthen Canada’s position as one of the top countries in AI development, the government introduced a new $2 billion AI investment plan titled the Canadian Sovereign AI Compute Strategy. The idea is to expand AI computing capacity and make it more accessible to businesses and researchers. Key elements include:

$1 billion for public AI supercomputing infrastructure to support research, industry, and government projects.
$300 million AI Compute Access Fund to lower the cost of compute resources for AI innovation in life sciences, energy, and manufacturing.
$700 million to encourage private sector investment in AI data centers and commercial AI infrastructure.

6. India

India is a top contributor to AI research and open-source development, ranking high in research publications and GitHub activity:

#2 in AI R&D and the number of GitHub AI projects (Stanford Global Vibrancy Tool, Stanford AI Index Report)
#3 and #4 in the number of AI research publications (OECD and Digital Science, respectively)
#5 in the number of GitHub stars on AI projects (Stanford AI Index Report)

To further strengthen India’s AI R&D capabilities, Microsoft announced a $3 billion investment in January 2025 to expand AI and cloud infrastructure in India. This includes building more AI data centers and training 10 million people in AI skills by 2030.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also highlighted India’s fast-growing AI developer community, emphasizing why India is considered one of the top AI countries in open-source contributions.

7. Singapore

Singapore continues to rise as a global AI hub, supported by government initiatives and industry collaborations:

#3 in research output (Tortoise Media)
#6 in the number of AI foundation models (Stanford AI Index Report)
#8 in the number of notable ML models (Stanford AI Index Report)
#10 in AI R&D (Stanford Global Vibrancy Tool)

Singapore has strengthened its position in AI research through government initiatives and collaborations with private companies.

In October 2024, the government introduced Smart Nation 2.0, one of Singapore’s key AI initiatives, aiming to further integrate AI into daily life and the economy. As part of this effort, S$120 million (approximately $89 million in today’s exchange rates) has been allocated to AI research, with a focus on biomedical and materials sciences.

The country has also attracted major AI companies. In November 2024, Accenture launched the AI Refinery Engineering Hub in Singapore, aiming to develop AI-powered solutions for industries like finance, healthcare, and energy.

In October 2024, OpenAI announced plans to open its Asia-Pacific hub in Singapore, showing confidence in the country’s growing AI ecosystem.

8. Germany

Germany is a major force in AI, too, consistently ranking among the top countries in AI research by focusing on ML, AI-driven automation, and ethical AI development:

#4 in the number of ML models (Stanford AI Index Report)
#5 in the number of AI scientific publications and in AI R&D (OECD, Stanford Global Vibrancy Tool)
#8 in the number of AI foundation models and in research output (Stanford AI Index Report, Tortoise Media)

Germany’s progress in AI is supported by both national and regional efforts. For instance, in February 2025, German state science ministers asked the federal government to increase funding for AI research and infrastructure.

They believe that stronger cooperation between the national and state governments is needed to fully use AI’s potential, with this discussion happening just before the German parliamentary elections. AI policy is expected to be an important topic during these elections.

9. Israel

Israel’s AI ecosystem is also thriving, driven by startups and global investments:

#6 in the number of ML models (Stanford AI Index Report)
#7 in the number of foundation models and in research output (Stanford AI Index Report, Tortoise Media)

Israel’s AI sector has been growing quickly, attracting global investment and industry interest, solidifying its standing among the top countries in AI development.

In December 2024, AI startups made up around 30% of Israel’s tech industry. These startups focused on different areas like natural language processing, computer vision, fintech, and healthcare and were fueled by the surge in AI investments.

Furthermore, some of Israel’s biggest AI companies, such as AI21 Labs, Gong.io, and Verbit, have raised hundreds of millions of dollars in funding. Their success has helped make Israel a leading AI innovation hub.

10. South Korea

South Korea is advancing AI research and applications, particularly in AI-driven healthcare:

#7 in AI R&D (Stanford Global Vibrancy Tool)
#9 in the number of AI research publications (Digital Science)

A key part of South Korea’s AI R&D strategy focuses on healthcare. In January 2025, the Ministry of Health and Welfare introduced a five-year AI roadmap aimed at improving AI applications in medicine. The plan includes:

Expanding AI use in emergency care, serious diseases, and cancer treatment as part of South Korea’s national AI initiatives.
Enhancing AI-driven drug discovery to speed up clinical trials and improve pharmaceutical research.
Making medical data more accessible by bringing together hospital and public health records to facilitate the development of new healthcare solutions.
Reducing the technology gap with countries like the US by increasing R&D investment and commercializing more AI-based healthcare solutions.

The Bottom Line

The top countries in AI research are in a fierce race for dominance. From the US and China battling over foundation models to the UK, France, and Canada pushing AI frontiers, global leaders are setting the stage for the next breakthroughs.

Who will stay ahead, and who will fall behind? The AI race is just getting started.