New ‘GDI’ metric tracks which countries lead AI race
New GDI metric focuses on AI compute capacity and infrastructure instead of traditional economic output
A new concept called Gross Domestic Intelligence (GDI) is gaining attention as a way to measure economic strength in the AI era, shifting focus beyond traditional GDP.
The analysts at Morgan Stanley developed the concept to evaluate national performance through their access to AI resources which include computing power and data centres and advanced chips.
However, the discussion is revealing global tech and finance sectors, as investors look for new ways to assess competitiveness in an increasingly AI-driven world.
What is GDI in AI era?
The concept of GDI centres on measuring AI compute capacity, including graphics processing units (GPUs), networking systems, and data infrastructure.
Morgan Stanley analysts said investors may begin to assess GDI at a national level as an important investment overlay when evaluating economies and industries.
The current situation showcases that AI development has reached a point where its impact on business operations matches the importance of established economic performance measures.
Research conducted by Epoch AI highlights that the United States maintains a 75% share of global AI computing power, while China controls approximately 10% and Europe, together with Norway and Japan, holds the remaining portion of AI computing power.
The sector of competition in this market continues to grow according to the fresh figures introduced in December 2025. The research evaluates AI chips that match Nvidia's H100 GPUs' performance to determine their total computational output capacity.
Notably, Google leads the market because it combines its proprietary Tensor Processing Units (TPUs) with Nvidia GPUs to achieve a major advantage in AI computing power. The AI competition remains under US control because the leading competitors in the field also operate from within the country.
The total compute capacity of China matches the Oracle system, according to Epoch AI estimates, which show the computational power gap that exists between China and other global competitors.
