Middle-income economies are vulnerable to AI superpowers despite being active participants in the global AI economy. Dependency on only a couple of dominant economies comes with great risks to middle-income countries, but full technological independence is neither achievable nor desirable for these economies. The goal instead is creating managed interdependence, where middle-income countries can meaningfully participate in the AI economy while preserving enough policy autonomy to avoid being solely dependent on either China or the United States, the dominant AI powers.
CIGI Senior Fellow Douglas Lippoldt examines 10 middle-income countries — Brazil, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Thailand and Vietnam — and considers the policy responses available to them. Through analyzing the AI leadership context of the US and China, trade dependency in AI-related goods and services, and more, he provides four crucial recommendations for the sample countries and their peers to develop their managed interdependence and resulting freedom from manufactured dependence on either the US or China.
