Sovereign AI is the new nuclear superpower.

Sovereign AI is the new nuclear superpower.

Nine countries have nuclear weapons. 88% of all foundation models are built by just two countries - the U.S. and China.

You’re either in the club, or you’re not.

In some ways, AI is more powerful than Nukes. It’s always on versus single use. We eagerly invite it into every corner of our lives. It teaches, influences, suggests, biases, and ultimately controls. Previous generations built the Internet; AI will shape future generations.

Nuclear influences security and power. AI influences values and intelligence.

Nations not in the clubs fall behind - living in a world built on someone else’s terms. Asking for permission, not forgiveness.

So what do the other 193 countries do about their AI deficit?

Let’s use South Korea as a case study as I was in Seoul last week speaking on this topic.

Lee Jae Myung, President of Korea, recently announced he wanted Korea to be #3 in AI. I’m not sure what that even means. I politely suggested Korea’s objective should be a seat at the AI superpower table.

He also announced they would deploy 150 trillion won ($108b) against the effort, and it is widely understood that Koreans have a strong bias to invest in Korean founders. It’s patriotic, but the wrong optimization. I suggested they should instead invest in the Korean tech ecosystem more broadly.

If the US only invested in born and bred Americans, Silicon Valley would not exist. Would America exist?!

I proposed a three-phased approach:

→ Phase I: Import. Pull in the best talent and trusted companies from around the world. Make it easy for them to set up shop, partner, and build.

→ Phase II: Innovate. Turn imported talent into catalysts. Incubate startups, support founders, and scale new generations on their shoulders.

→ Phase III: Influence. Project outward: export your technology, your companies, your standards. Embed global talent so deeply into your ecosystem that leaving stops making sense.

China ran this playbook. In the 2000s, we saw a period of open investment, collaboration, and co-development. Talent and investors rushed in, importing all the key primordial soup ingredients. Then came the shift to heavily bias the China-ecosystem first. Alibaba replaced Amazon. Baidu replaces Google. Tencent replaces Facebook…and everything else. And now we have TikTok and Deepseek at our doorsteps.

Sovereigns need to break down barriers, throw open doors, invest, partner, and build. The investment and methodical execution will eventually pay off.

Be long-term greedy.