Israel Becomes World's Number One Nation in AI Talent Concentration, US and China Fall Behind
Development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has traditionally been centred in the United States and China, with both nations engaged in fierce competition to dominate the world through AI innovation.
However, one critical factor in AI development is access to qualified talent. In this regard, the US and China significantly lag behind Israel. Notably, neither the US nor China ranks in the ‘Top 10’ countries with the highest concentration of AI talent.
Israel ranks first globally in this category, according to a 2024 LinkedIn report that measured the distribution of AI capabilities globally by surveying 31,000 professionals across 31 countries.
The research revealed that Israel far exceeds the US and China in developing AI talent despite having a considerably smaller population. Demand for human resources with AI capabilities has also increased substantially.
The report noted that 66% of company leaders would not recruit employees without AI skills. Meanwhile, 71% of these leaders prefer to hire less-experienced candidates with AI expertise over experienced professionals lacking such capabilities.
The LinkedIn report, conducted in collaboration with Microsoft, measured the distribution of AI talent using the AI Talent Concentration metric derived from user profiles. This assessment considered AI engineering skills such as machine learning and natural language processing, as well as AI literacy including the use of ChatGPT and GitHub Copilot.
Based on this calculation, Israel topped the rankings. AI talent concentration reached 1.98%, far above the global average.
Two other countries ranking in the top three are Singapore with a concentration of 1.64% and Luxembourg at 1.44%. Chua Pei Ying, Head Economist for LinkedIn’s APAC region, stated that Singapore’s learning culture is particularly prominent and keeps it competitive in the AI era.
“Many countries with the highest AI talent concentration, such as Israel, Singapore, Luxembourg, and Estonia, are small nations yet have managed to develop ecosystems supporting rapid AI talent growth,” Chua said.
Both China and the US also failed to make the top 10 list. For China specifically, the absence may be attributed to the country’s extensive censorship policies towards US-made platforms, resulting in many local talents lacking LinkedIn accounts whose data could be included in the report.
The following is the list of the 10 countries with the highest AI talent concentration according to LinkedIn:
Israel (1.98%)
Singapore (1.64%)
Luxembourg (1.44%)
Estonia (1.17%)
Switzerland (1.16%)
Finland (1.13%)
Ireland (1.11%)
Germany (1.09%)
Netherlands (1.07%)
South Korea (1.06%)