Macro Markets and Machines_The Economic and Market Transformation Driven by AI_GWM report - Flipbook - Page 23
Macro, Markets, and Machines
November 2025
Exhibit 16 – The United States Also Has More Data Centres than the Next 15 Countries Combined
4083
Total data centres in next 15 countries: 4024
494
US
UK
486
DE
379
CH
319
286
273
267
236
209
195
194
191
180
180
135
FR
CA
AU
IN
JP
IT
BR
NL
ES
ID
RU
IE
Source: Datacentermap; Scotia Wealth Management.
Private AI investment (US$ billions)
Exhibit 17 – U.S. Private Investment in AI Has Handily Outpaced Peers over the Past Decade
120
U.S.
100
$471
China
80
U.K.
$28
Canada
$15
60
40
20
0
2013
2015
China
2017 2019 2021 2023
U.S.
Europe
$119
Israel
$15
Germany
$13
India
$11
France
$11
South Korea
$9
Singapore
$7
Total private investment in AI (2013-2024, US$ billions)
Source: Stanford University: 2025 AI Index Report Scotia Wealth Management.
Access: Access to the inputs that power AI, like semiconductors (along with their material inputs), cloud computing,
and capital is highly uneven. The United States currently dominates, benefitting from its position as home to leading
chipmakers and cloud providers, giving American companies a structural advantage in scaling AI.
China is a unique and interesting case. Although U.S. export controls have limited the world’s second-largest
economy’s access to the most advanced chips, domestic firms like Alibaba and DeepSeek are making progress in
building homegrown solutions. This suggests that while near-term constraints, like these export controls, may
slow adoption, China could make significant progress in the AI race. Emerging markets and low-income
countries, however, face larger challenges. Access to high-end chips is limited, cloud costs are a roadblock, and
domestic capital markets may lack the depth to support large scale investment.
Uneven access means that AI could exacerbate pre-existing technological divides. Advanced economies are
positioned to benefit disproportionately, while emerging markets and low-income countries risk falling further
behind unless global supply chains diversify and costs fall, though the shift away from globalization and toward
protectionism may act as a hurdle.
Scotia Wealth Management
22
