Global AI adoption rises quickly but benefits remain unequal
Rapid AI adoption risks widening the gap between the Global North and South without coordinated investment and policy action.
Microsoft’s AI Economy Institute has released its 2025 AI Diffusion Report, detailing global AI adoption, innovation hubs, and the impact of digital infrastructure. AI has reached over 1.2 billion users in under three years, yet its benefits remain unevenly distributed.
Adoption rates in the Global North are roughly double those in the Global South, highlighting the risk of long-term inequalities.
AI adoption depends on strong foundational infrastructure, including electricity, data centres, internet connectivity, digital and AI skills, and language accessibility.
Countries with robust foundations- such as the UAE, Singapore, Norway, and Ireland- have seen rapid adoption, even without frontier-level model development. In contrast, regions with limited infrastructure and low-resource languages lag significantly, with adoption in some areas below 10%.
Ukraine exemplifies the potential for rapid AI growth, despite current disruptions from the war, with an adoption rate of 9.1%. Strategic investments in connectivity, AI skills, and language-inclusive solutions could accelerate recovery, strengthen resilience, and drive innovation.
AI is already supporting cybersecurity and helping businesses and organisations maintain operations amid ongoing challenges.
The concentration of AI infrastructure remains high, with the US and China hosting 86% of the global data centre capacity. A few countries dominate frontier AI development, yet the performance gap between leading models is narrowing.
Coordinated efforts across infrastructure, skills, and policy are crucial to ensure equitable access and maximise AI’s potential worldwide.
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