In particular, Singapore is at the forefront, having issued many government initiatives through organizations such as AI (artificial intelligence) Singapore, creating a "viewed startup ecosystem and a close cooperation alliance between the public and private sectors" in industries including healthcare, transportation and telecommunications.
Seoul (Korea) ranked second, as Counterpoint emphasized that the city government is implementing AI in areas such as healthcare and education, while companies such as SK Telecom and Naver have invested in innovating AI services.
Beijing (China), ranked third, has launched an official AI education training program for all primary and secondary school students starting in 2025. China Unicom and Huawei have also implemented a number of 5G and AI initiatives in the city.
Other Asian cities in the Top 10 are Hong Kong (China) with 6th place, Tokyo (Japan, 7th place) and Shanghai (China, 10th place).
Of which, Hong Kong (China) and Tokyo have high scores on academic research and startup initiatives, while Shanghai is the global leader in AI software innovation initiatives and also has a significant number of government initiatives.
The remaining positions in the Top 10 AI cities are Dubai (UAE, ranked 4), San Francisco (USA, ranked 5), Abu Dhabi (UAE, ranked 8) and New York (USA, ranked 9).
More broadly, North America is still leading in developing AI cities with quite large amplities, but China is catching up, according to Counterpoin Research Director Marc Einstein.
The development of AI cities in China is no longer limited to large cities, he said. Places such as Wuhan, Chengdu and Zhu Zhuo are also rapidly applying AI.
Investments, especially in supercomputers, are impressive and the gap between North America and China will certainly narrow from next year onwards.
Einstein noted that Europe is only as active as half of North America due to the more difficult environment to manage.
The research team reviewed the application of AI in the world's 100 largest urban areas, focusing on businesses, startups, data centers, telecommunications operators, and universities in government programs.
This study analyzed more than 5,000 initiatives in the public and private sectors as well as the strength of media infrastructure.
