GPAI Members’ AI Strategies: A look into 2025’s highest ranked AI priorities around the globe

In order to best serve our mandate of accompanying governments in their actions of deploying AI responsibly in a way that is aligned with their needs at national, sub-national and local levels, this summer, Alyssa Montalbine, our Junior Policy Analyst Graduate Intern developed a thematic mapping of the National AI Strategies of current Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) members. 

The exercise resulted in a consistent and in-depth analysis of each National AI Strategy with a focus on maintaining the nuance of each nation’s unique approach. Only publicly available documents released by the 44 governments that are part of GPAI were used exclusively to conduct this project. Thus only the most current AI strategies were analyzed, along with active policies, laws, and international governance. The first step consisted in reading and analyzing how each country had defined its national AI strategies, what areas of application are prioritized and which agencies are enforcing these initiatives.

What we found from this first global overview was that each country approached the question of AI differently — not only in the content of their national strategies, but also in response to the  economic, social, political, geographic, and resource-based challenges they face. Building on this analysis, we developed a thematic mapping to connect national strategies with the appropriate thematic categories. Out of the 44 countries analyzed, we observed that five priorities are recurrent and appeared in the majority of strategies:

• Infrastructure (either infrastructure projects that integrate AI or are infrastructure projects required to enable the development and utilization of AI)
• People-Centric AI Development (values and principles that act as a red line for AI system design and development in order to empower and protect citizens) 
• Economy (Investments in AI or AI projects that drive economic productivity)
• Research, Development, and Innovation (Pre-market Equipment/Funding/Partnerships/Projects)
• Talent Development and Education (Upskilling workforce and citizen digital literacy)

This prioritisation was not surprising: the growing use of advanced AI models globally has led governments to prioritize infrastructure, as it is essential for the complex computational needs and large datasets that AI requires.People-Centric AI Development ranked as a high priority as well, reflecting states’ alignment with societal demands for human oversight, accountability, and inclusive collaboration. While the importance of economic AI applications and research, development, and innovation (RDI) for national prosperity was expected, we found it particularly compelling that across the GPAI, governments also prioritize empowering the population through workforce upskilling, education, and promoting values such as transparency, reliability, non-discrimination, and improved quality of life.

One additional observation — not featured in the top five — was the significant presence of sector-specific initiatives related to national security and resilience in healthcare, sustainability, and — most interestingly — agriculture. Innovative AI application projects in these areas also reflect the people-centric AI approach: to remain secure and resilient, governments must meet essential public needs such as food, energy, clean water, biosecurity, well-being, and disaster protection. What we are witnessing is that AgTech developments using AI are becoming a leading area for knowledge transfer and international cooperation.  Both in the essential nature of these products and in their diversity and innovation, they offer solutions to help other nations address food shortages, natural disasters, and energy inefficiencies.

This tool, designed to be a living and evolving resource, offers a valuable overview of how GPAI countries are shaping their AI policies and applying AI based on their key national themes. It also positions CEIMIA uniquely as a strategic partner for the member countries— not only in developing applied projects that guide AI deployment based on their specific contextual challenges and needs but also as a connector between states with complementary strengths and common priorities. This can result in powerful synergies that ultimately benefit humankind.