Global AI fight: Technology vs. ideology
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Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang at Web Summit Qatar 2025. Photo: Web Summit
The war for AI dominance is playing out on a global stage, sparking a heated debate about technological supremacy versus national ideology.
Why it matters: As U.S. companies, including Scale AI, ply their wares to foreign governments and corporations, they're increasingly aware that being American is no longer necessarily an absolute advantage.
Yes, but: U.S. companies are still notching wins, as with Scale's deal with the government of Qatar announced Sunday.
Flashback: Alexandr Wang, the founder of Scale AI, one of America's most valuable AI companies, last month took out a full-page ad in the Washington Post to proclaim that "America must win the AI war."
State of play: When Axios asked for a show of hands from attendees at the opening night of Web Summit Qatar in Doha on Sunday, of those who voted, almost all disagreed with that statement.
- Less than half a dozen people said they agreed with the sentiment.
The big picture: "If you play the tape forward on AI," said Wang, "nearly every country in the world will ultimately likely build AI technology on top of either the U.S. technology stack or the Chinese technology stack."
- "The critical question is, what are the ideologies that are baked into the technology?"
Between the lines: Wang did make some concessions for his international audience. "AI technology should reflect, to a meaningful degree, the cultural differences between various countries," he said.
- "This is one of the things that we actually work on very closely, to ensure these AI models that are global platforms do reflect cultural differences from country to country or region to region."
Editor's Note: This story has been updated with details on Scale's new deal with the government of Qatar.
