Governments Are Spending Huge Amounts on National State-Controlled AI Systems – Could It Be a Big Waste of Money?

Around the globe, states are investing hundreds of billions into what is known as “sovereign AI” – developing their own artificial intelligence technologies. From the city-state of Singapore to the nation of Malaysia and the Swiss Confederation, countries are racing to build AI that grasps local languages and cultural nuances.

The International AI Arms Race

This initiative is a component of a wider worldwide contest led by tech giants from the America and China. Whereas firms like OpenAI and Meta allocate substantial funds, middle powers are likewise making their own gambles in the AI landscape.

However amid such huge investments in play, is it possible for smaller countries achieve meaningful advantages? As noted by a specialist from a well-known thinktank, “Unless you’re a affluent government or a major company, it’s a substantial hardship to create an LLM from scratch.”

Security Concerns

Many countries are reluctant to rely on external AI systems. In India, as an example, US-built AI tools have sometimes proven inadequate. A particular example saw an AI assistant deployed to instruct learners in a remote village – it spoke in English with a thick American accent that was hard to understand for local students.

Additionally there’s the state security factor. For India’s military authorities, employing particular foreign models is seen as inadmissible. Per an entrepreneur noted, It's possible it contains some arbitrary learning material that could claim that, for example, Ladakh is not part of India … Using that specific AI in a military context is a major risk.”

He continued, I’ve discussed with experts who are in defence. They wish to use AI, but, forget about particular tools, they don’t even want to rely on Western technologies because details might go overseas, and that is absolutely not OK with them.”

Homegrown Projects

In response, a number of states are backing national initiatives. A particular such a project is being developed in India, wherein a firm is working to develop a national LLM with government support. This project has allocated about a substantial sum to machine learning progress.

The founder foresees a model that is significantly smaller than premier systems from US and Chinese corporations. He explains that the nation will have to compensate for the resource shortfall with talent. “Being in India, we don’t have the luxury of allocating massive funds into it,” he says. “How do we compete against say the enormous investments that the US is pumping in? I think that is the point at which the core expertise and the intellectual challenge comes in.”

Local Focus

In Singapore, a state-backed program is backing language models educated in local native tongues. Such tongues – such as the Malay language, Thai, the Lao language, Indonesian, Khmer and additional ones – are frequently underrepresented in American and Asian LLMs.

I hope the individuals who are creating these independent AI models were aware of just how far and just how fast the cutting edge is advancing.

A leader engaged in the project says that these systems are intended to enhance more extensive systems, as opposed to replacing them. Platforms such as a popular AI tool and Gemini, he states, often have difficulty with regional languages and culture – communicating in awkward Khmer, for instance, or recommending non-vegetarian dishes to Malaysian consumers.

Creating local-language LLMs permits state agencies to code in local context – and at least be “smart consumers” of a advanced tool created in other countries.

He further explains, “I’m very careful with the word sovereign. I think what we’re attempting to express is we want to be better represented and we want to comprehend the features” of AI platforms.

International Cooperation

Regarding countries seeking to carve out a role in an intensifying international arena, there’s another possibility: collaborate. Experts affiliated with a prominent policy school have suggested a government-backed AI initiative shared among a alliance of emerging states.

They call the proposal “an AI equivalent of Airbus”, drawing inspiration from Europe’s effective play to build a competitor to Boeing in the 1960s. The plan would entail the creation of a state-backed AI entity that would merge the assets of various countries’ AI initiatives – including the UK, the Kingdom of Spain, Canada, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Singapore, South Korea, the French Republic, Switzerland and Sweden – to develop a competitive rival to the American and Asian giants.

The lead author of a paper describing the proposal notes that the concept has gained the interest of AI leaders of at least three countries so far, along with multiple sovereign AI firms. Although it is currently focused on “middle powers”, developing countries – the nation of Mongolia and Rwanda for example – have likewise expressed interest.

He explains, In today’s climate, I think it’s simply reality there’s less trust in the assurances of the existing White House. Experts are questioning like, should we trust these technologies? What if they opt to