New study reveals the world’s AI superpowers in 2025

According to a new study by TRG Datacenters, the United States remains the world’s most dominant artificial intelligence (AI) power in 2025, outpacing rivals in computing power, energy capacity, and ecosystem strength.

The research, which analyzed global AI infrastructure using the Epoch AI Supercomputers dataset, compared nations across different factors, including:

• Supercomputing power

• Data center clusters

• Chip counts

• Workforce adoption

• Company activity

• Government readiness

It found that while the U.S. leads decisively, several other countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and France, are rapidly emerging as AI powers.

The U.S. tops the ranking with 39.7 million H100 equivalents, a standardized measure based on NVIDIA’s high-performance AI chips, and the highest total power capacity of 19.8K megawatts. This unmatched infrastructure gives the U.S. the ability to sustain AI development at scale, supported by the world’s largest AI company ecosystem and strong policy support.

The rising challengers

The United Arab Emirates takes second place with 23.1M H100 equivalents and 6.4K MW of power capacity. Despite lower government readiness compared to the U.S., the UAE’s rapid investments have made it a serious global contender.

• Saudi Arabia ranks third with 7.2M H100 equivalents, a higher workforce adoption rate than the UAE, but significantly less energy capacity at 2.4K MW.

• South Korea holds fourth place at 5.1M H100 equivalents, distinguished by its strong workforce integration, with nearly half of employees using AI in some capacity.

• France rounds out the top five with 2.4M H100 equivalents and the second-largest number of AI chips worldwide (989K), surpassing China, India, and South Korea in hardware counts.

China not top five?

In a surprising result, China ranks only seventh, with 400K H100 equivalents. This is despite leading the world in data center clusters (230) and possessing over 629K AI chips. Limited energy capacity, at just 289 MW, has become a bottleneck.

Other top performers include:

• India (6th) – 1.2M H100 equivalents and 493K AI chips

• UK & Northern Ireland (8th) – 120K H100 equivalents, but strong startup activity with 4,700 AI companies

• Finland (9th) – 72K H100 equivalents and 82K chips

• Germany (10th) – 51K H100 equivalents, but limited by just 25 MW of power capacity

Investment boom

Globally, AI infrastructure investment reached a record $200 billion in 2025 as countries pour resources into computational power to stay competitive in what has become a geopolitical and economic race.

“The battle for AI supremacy is being fought on multiple fronts, and raw computing power is just one piece of a much larger puzzle,” a TRG Datacenters spokesperson said. “The real advantage comes from combining hardware with skilled talent, supportive government policies, and thriving AI ecosystems. Some countries are betting everything on massive supercomputers, while others are focusing on specialized chips or regulatory frameworks to attract research and development.”

As governments and tech giants race to dominate the next era of artificial intelligence, the report highlights starkly different strategies and the possibility of a multipolar AI world emerging beyond just U.S. and China.