Introduction

The report published by Centre for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) assesses and summarizes the AI-related collaboration between the Quad members i.e., United States, Australia, India and Japan. The areas of assessment not only include AI-related collaboration but investment activity along the Quad and how each country is linked to China in this regard. For the unversed, all Quad members have an interest in strengthening cooperation on responsible development of AI and deploy this technology to transform the economy. The Quad also has the potential to offer an alternative to China’s techno-authoritarian model of technology development and use. However, Quad members often face challenges when it comes to their approach to data governance or their technological progress or geopolitical priorities.

The report specifically focuses on the state of AI collaboration among the Quad members. Some of the major findings of the report are a) all Quad countries are among the top 10 AI research producers in the world, both in terms of research publications and citations, b) each country has its own AI-related research strengths that can be leveraged for joint research opportunities, c) While the US collaborates extensively with Australia, India, and Japan on AI-related research, the collaboration is on a lower side amongst each other for Australia, India and Japan, d) China is the top research partner for the US and the second-leading partner for the rest of Quad members, e) In the last decade, the majority of investments in AI was made by domestic investors in all the member countries, f) Existence of a vibrant AI investment environment between the US and China as compared to the US and the remaining Quad members and g) Each Quad members has more AI investment activity with China than they do with one another.

The report also states that to achieve the Quad’s goal to advance technology cooperation will require deepening and expanding existing collaboration efforts as well as charting new pathways for the future. On the research front, there is immense scope for the Quad countries to strengthen their technological cooperation. This can be done through joint collaboration between government, universities, research institutions and the private sector.

Relevance of the Report

The report gives a view of the state of AI-related collaboration between the Quad members. It gives some eye-opening graphical representation of AI investment ties among the Quad members and China. It is an eye-opener for the reader who would be surprised to know many unknown facts and details about AI-related cooperation between the member countries and also China.

Key Takeaways

• All Quad countries have successfully projected themselves as global leaders in AI research. Between 2010 and 2020, Quad countries collectively generated nearly 650,000 AI-related research papers
• Quad members should take advantage of each of their AI-related research strength and build further research opportunities. For example, India’s strength lies in data mining and data science whereas Australia’s is in linguistics and theoretical computer science
• Collaboration rates between Australian, Indian, and Japanese researchers is not more than 4%. Also, investment activity is limited between these three countries. However, US have robust AI investment ties with all the Quad members
• To strengthen Quad’s potential and minimize dependency on Chinese technology, the members, specifically Australia, India and Japan need to collaborate more on research and investments in AI