Newswise — China is outstripping the rest of the world in artificial intelligence research at a time when AI is becoming a “strategic asset” akin to energy or military capability, according to a new report released today by research technology company Digital Science.

The report – entitled DeepSeek and the New Geopolitics of AI: China’s ascent to research pre-eminence in AI – has been authored by Digital Science CEO Dr Daniel Hook based on data from Dimensions, the world’s largest and most comprehensive database describing the global research ecosystem.

Dr Hook has analyzed AI research data from the year 2000 to 2024, tracking trends in research collaborations and placing these within geopolitical, economic, and technological contexts.

His report says AI research has grown at an “impressive rate” globally since the turn of the millennium – from just under 10,000 publications in 2000, to 60,000 publications in 2024. 

Dr Hook’s key findings include:

• China has become the pre-eminent world power in AI research, leading not only by research volume, but also by citation attention, and influence, rapidly increasing its lead on the rest of the world over the past seven years.
• The US continues to have the strongest AI startup scene, but China is catching up fast.
• In 2024, China’s AI research publication output matched the combined output of the US, UK, and European Union (EU-27), and now commands more than 40% of global citation attention.
• Despite global tensions, China has become the top collaborator for the US, UK, and EU in AI research, while needing less reciprocal collaboration than any of them.
• China’s AI talent pool dwarfs its rivals – with 30,000 active AI researchers and a massive student and postdoctoral population.
• The EU benefits from strong internal AI collaboration across its research bloc.
• China dominates AI-related patents – patent filings and company-affiliated AI research show China outpacing the US tenfold in some indicators, underscoring its capacity to translate research into innovation.

“AI is no longer neutral – governments are using it as a strategic asset, akin to energy or military capability, and China is actively leveraging this advantage,” Dr Hook says.

“Governments need to understand the local, national and geostrategic implications of AI, with the underlying concern that lack of AI capability or capacity could be damaging from economic, political, social, and military perspectives.”

Dr Hook says China is “massively and impressively” growing its AI research capacity. Unlike Western nations with clustered AI hubs, he says China boasts 156 institutions publishing more than 50 AI papers each in 2024, supporting a nationwide innovation ecosystem. In addition, “China’s AI workforce is young, growing fast, and uniquely positioned for long-term innovation.” 

He says one sign of China’s rapidly developing capabilities is its release of the DeepSeek chatbot in January this year. “The emergence of DeepSeek is not merely a technological innovation – it is a symbol of a profound shift in the global AI landscape,” Dr Hook says.

“DeepSeek exemplifies China’s technological independence. Its cost-efficient, open-source LLM demonstrates the country’s ability to innovate around US chip restrictions and dominate AI development at scale.”

Dr Hook’s report comments further on the AI research landscape in the US, UK and EU.

He says the UK remains “small but globally impactful”. “Despite its modest size, the UK consistently punches above its weight in attention-per-output metrics.”

However, the EU “risks falling behind in translation and visibility”. “The EU shows weaker international collaboration beyond its borders and struggles to convert research into applied outputs (e.g., patents), raising concerns about its future AI competitiveness.”

Discover more in the full report: DeepSeek and the New Geopolitics of AI: China’s ascent to research pre-eminence in AI: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.29336588

About Dimensions

Part of Digital Science, Dimensions hosts the largest collection of interconnected global research data, re-imagining research discovery with access to grants, publications, clinical trials, patents and policy documents all in one place. Follow Dimensions on Bluesky, on X and LinkedIn.

About Digital Science

Digital Science is an AI-focused technology company providing innovative solutions to complex challenges faced by researchers, universities, funders, industry and publishers. We work in partnership to advance global research for the benefit of society. Through our brands – Altmetric, Dimensions, Figshare, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, metaphacts, OntoChem, Overleaf, ReadCube, Symplectic, and Writefull – we believe when we solve problems together, we drive progress for all. Visit digital-science.com and follow Digital Science on Bluesky, on X or on LinkedIn.

Media contact

David Ellis, Press, PR & Social Manager, Digital Science: Mobile +61 447 783 023, [email protected]