In January 2025, the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) was shaken by a series of significant events, highlighting the global race for leadership in this cutting-edge field.
Vasyl Hulyi, AI Industry Observer
January 29, 2025
Technological Events
At the beginning of January, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025 was held in Las Vegas, showcasing the latest global innovations in AI. The event demonstrated how artificial intelligence is becoming more accessible and integrated into daily life, offering solutions for smart homes, healthcare, and other fields.
Education and AI
UNESCO announced that the International Day of Education in 2025 would be dedicated to artificial intelligence. The organization urged nations to invest in training teachers and students for effective and ethical use of AI in educational processes. This highlights the importance of integrating AI into education while adhering to ethical standards and focusing on the benefit of students and educators.
China: Ambitious Investments and Technological Breakthroughs
China continues to actively invest in AI development. In response to U.S. plans, the Bank of China announced an investment of 1 trillion yuan (approximately $140 billion) in AI. These funds are aimed at advancing artificial intelligence technologies in the country.
It is worth recalling that in 2017, Beijing announced plans to become the world leader in AI by 2030. Already today, China is ahead in surveillance technologies based on AI and in creating e-commerce algorithms. Moreover, China not only surpasses the U.S. in the number of scientific papers on AI but is nearly equal to its main competitor in terms of their importance and citation metrics.
Just recently, the Chinese startup DeepSeek unveiled its latest AI language model, DeepSeek R1, which demonstrates performance comparable to American competitors OpenAI and Meta. This is a major blow to U.S. tech giants, as the Chinese startup achieved this using less advanced Nvidia H800 chips (due to U.S. export restrictions) and at a fraction of the cost. The team claims to have spent less than $6 million on training the model, while the training of American models has already cost billions of dollars.
European Union: Regulations and Strategic Initiatives
The European Union is strengthening its ambitions in artificial intelligence. The EU confirmed its goal to become one of the world’s leading AI hubs by increasing investments in research and development, improving access to digital infrastructure, and fostering close cooperation with member states and international partners to share resources and expertise.
However, according to the European Parliament, the total AI funding under the “Digital Europe” program for 2021-2027 amounts to only €2.1 billion, significantly lagging behind U.S. and Chinese investments.
Several major European countries have adopted their own national AI development programs. The United Kingdom has unveiled an ambitious strategy aimed at transforming the country into a leading AI power. The plan includes significant investments in R&D, the training of specialized personnel, and the creation of a favorable regulatory environment for technological innovation. The goal is to strengthen the UK’s position in AI, stimulate economic growth, and create new jobs in the tech sector.
France is also actively promoting AI initiatives, planning three major international summits in 2025 dedicated to the use of artificial intelligence for the benefit of society.
United States: New Restrictions and International Competition
In January 2025, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden announced further tightening of export regulations for chips. The new rules restrict the export of powerful high-tech AI chips to most countries worldwide, with the exception of 18 of the U.S.’s closest allies.
January 21, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the creation of Stargate, a company aimed at developing artificial intelligence. The project is set to receive up to $500 billion in investments over the next four years. Key partners include OpenAI, Oracle, the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, and the UAE-based investment company MGX. The project’s goal is to develop Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and strengthen the United States’ leadership in this field.
These developments highlight the growing global competition in artificial intelligence, as major world powers aim to bolster their positions through substantial investments, technological innovations, and strategic initiatives. This is not just a technological race but a question of global influence and the future of the planet.
