---
id: "article:mid-sized-economies-frontier"
type: "Reboot Democracy article"
title: "Can mid-sized economies come together to build frontier AI?"
url: "https://rebootdemocracy.ai/blog/mid-sized-economies-frontier"
date: "2026-01-07"
updated: "2026-01-17"
authors: ["Elana Banin"]
tags: ["Global AI Watch","Governing AI","AI and Law","AI Infrastructure"]
summary: "Conventional Wisdom presents mid-sized economies with two options for accessing advanced AI: rely on American or Chinese systems, or fall behind. Neither choice preserves the technological sovereignty that countries increasingly see as essential. But there is a third path we explore in detail in a recent memo. Collectively, nations outside the US-China duopoly possess substantial computing infrastructure, a majority of the world’s top researchers, and the growing political will to create a third path. The question is whether they can come together to make it work."
source: "Reboot Democracy (rebootdemocracy.ai)"
licence: "none stated"
---

# Can mid-sized economies come together to build frontier AI?

By Elana Banin · 7 January 2026

For our **Global AI** **Watch** post today, we’re highlighting a compelling new **[article](https://oecd.ai/en/wonk/can-mid-sized-economies-come-together-to-build-frontier-ai) **from OECD.AI, written by [Charles Martinet](https://oecd.ai/en/community/charles-martinet) and [Yohann Ralle](https://oecd.ai/en/community/yohann-ralle) that challenges the notion that countries must choose between dependence on US- or China-led AI systems, or fall behind entirely.

> “Conventional wisdom presents mid-sized economies with two options for accessing advanced AI: rely on American or Chinese systems, or fall behind. Neither choice preserves the technological sovereignty that countries increasingly see as essential. But there is a third path we explore in detail in a recent memo.”

The authors argue that this “dependency dilemma” is neither inevitable nor sustainable—and that collective action offers a credible alternative:

> “Collectively, nations outside the US–China duopoly possess substantial computing infrastructure, a majority of the world’s top researchers, and the growing political will to create a third path. The question is whether they can come together to make it work.”

The piece emphasizes that multinational cooperation does not require sacrificing control over data or national priorities:

> “With federated learning, the data never leaves national boundaries. This architecture enables pooling compute capacity and developing shared AI capabilities without centralising sensitive information.”

**Read more on the [OECD blog](https://oecd.ai/en/wonk/can-mid-sized-economies-come-together-to-build-frontier-ai).**

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Original page: https://rebootdemocracy.ai/blog/mid-sized-economies-frontier · Licence: none stated