The global AI race is often framed as a two-horse contest between the United States and China. But according to economists at Bank of America, the next wave of growth may shift the spotlight to two smaller, ambitious players: South Korea and the United Arab Emirates. These countries are positioned to benefit not just from building AI infrastructure, but from how quickly they can put the technology to work across their economies.

South Korea brings a potent combination of semiconductor manufacturing muscle and a hyper-connected society. Its dominance in memory chips—the backbone of AI compute—gives it a direct stake in the hardware build-out. Meanwhile, the UAE is betting heavily on becoming a global testbed for AI adoption, from government services to energy optimization. Both nations have the capital, policy focus, and industrial appetite to move faster than many larger peers.

What sets them apart, the analysts argue, is a rare alignment of incentives. South Korea faces a shrinking workforce and sees AI as a lever to boost productivity. The UAE, with its petrodollar wealth and desire to diversify beyond oil, is treating AI as a strategic national project. If the next phase of AI is about deployment rather than just invention, these two countries could leapfrog traditional tech hubs and emerge as unexpected champions.

Source: MarketWatch