The United States and China are the two global leaders in the development of artificial intelligence (AI), an AI expert stated after the publication on Tuesday of the IMD's AI Maturity Index. According to the second edition of the AI Maturity Index, which ranks companies based on the effectiveness with which they have adopted AI to transform their strategies and business operations, NVIDIA ranked first, followed by Microsoft and Alphabet in second and third place, respectively. Among the top 300 companies, the number of Chinese companies was surpassed only by that of American companies. In a virtual interview, Michael Wade, Professor of Strategy and Digital at IMD and Director of the Global TONOMUS Center for Digital and AI Transformation, told Xinhua that China's dominance in AI patent applications and its focus on practical applications in manufacturing, healthcare, and autonomous vehicles provide a solid foundation for growth and value creation. Although export controls have restricted China's access to advanced computing chips, crucial for AI development, "China leads the world in generative AI patents with more than 38,210 applications filed between 2014 and 2023, a figure significantly higher than the 6,276 patents of the United States," he emphasized. Based in Switzerland, IMD is an independent university institute with campuses in Lausanne and Singapore, and has recently established a team in Shenzhen, China. "China is less concerned with developing the most powerful AI capabilities and is more focused on commercializing AI with an efficient, low-cost approach," Wade stated. In the technology and telecommunications sectors, China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, and NTT are investing billions of dollars in AI-ready data centers and hyperscale computing capabilities, he added, noting that "the technology and insurance sectors show the highest maturity in AI among Chinese companies, while traditional state-owned energy and construction companies are at the bottom." The AI Maturity Index assesses how the top 300 companies in the Forbes Global 2000 ranking develop their AI strategies. The index, which analyzes the various applications of AI in 10 sectors, showed that companies with higher AI maturity have better revenue performance, with an average annual growth of 6.79%, compared to -0.51% for companies with lower AI maturity. It focuses on how organizations lead with AI, balancing technology with leadership, culture, and ethics. According to its findings, technology companies lead the index, but the financial sector accounts for 32% of the top 100.
