Israel drops in global AI rankings, lacking national strategy, leadership - state comptroller

There is no long-term national strategy for Artificial Intelligence, meaning that “it is not surprising that [Israel] has dropped in international rankings,” State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman said in a report released on Tuesday.

Israel dropped in multiple international rankings, going from fifth place out of 62 to ninth place out of 83 countries ranked in the Tortoise Index and dropping from 20th to 30th place out of 193 countries in the Oxford ranking, among others, between 2019 and 2024, the report said.

This is unsurprising given a number of factors, including a lack of government leadership or a national plan, the report found.

The Innovation, Science and Technology Ministry created a plan in 2022, but this was shelved when the government changed in 2023, even though the strategy was not impacted by political disagreement, said the comptroller.

“There is no justification for a change of governments stopping a plan that was unrelated to a political argument. Its goal was to move Israel forward in a global revolution that will only get bigger in coming years,” Englman said.

The report also criticized the government’s failure to follow the recommendations of professional committees and to allocate sufficient budgets or utilize those allocated.

There has also been a failure to create proper AI regulation “in spite of the risks that exist for AI technology and the need to formalize its use responsibly while safeguarding basic rights,” said the report.

Proposed regulation has yet to be approved by the government 

A proposed plan for this regulation, created by the Innovation, Science and Technology Ministry and the Justice Ministry, has yet to be approved by the government, and Israel is behind Europe when it comes to regulation, the comptroller’s report added.

Englman also said that Israel’s computing infrastructure was insufficient for it to be a global leader, citing its lack of supercomputing capacity.

Further, funds intended for infrastructure for training large models, which are necessary for advancing AI technology, were not utilized, he added.

“To maintain Israel’s technological and scientific superiority in the field of AI, which has been designated a national priority, the Innovation, Science and Technology Ministry must lead government policy in this area and act in accordance with the government decision and the former minister’s agreement with the National Security Council,” the comptroller said.

Englman also recommended that the prime minister track the progress of the government’s handling of the subject through the council to ensure that national goals were met.