Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming economies and promising new opportunities for productivity, growth and resilience. Countries are responding with national AI strategies to capitalise on these transformations. However, no country today has data on, or a targeted plan for, national AI compute capacity. This policy blind-spot may jeopardise domestic economic goals.

This report provides the first blueprint for policy-makers to help assess and plan for the national AI compute capacity needed to enable productivity gains and capture AI’s full economic potential. It provides guidance for policy-makers on how to develop a national AI compute plan along three dimensions: capacity (availability and use), effectiveness (people, policy, innovation, access), and resilience (security, sovereignty, sustainability). The report also defines AI compute, takes stock of indicators, datasets, and proxies for measuring national AI compute capacity, and identifies obstacles to measuring and benchmarking national AI compute capacity across countries.