Only 32 countries in the world host AI-focused data centres and fewer than 20% of those are in the Southern Hemisphere. The vast majority of data centres are clustered around Europe and the UK, in the United States and China. 90% of the world’s AI data centres are controlled by either the US or China.

A new study from Oxford University has sparked much-needed debates about the future of AI, and who ultimately controls it and who has access to it. The entire continent of Africa, apart from South Africa, and most of South America has none of the infrastructure required to build, train and run AI models.

As University of Pretoria’s ABSA Chair of Data Science Vukosi Marivate says: “This divide isn’t just about technology. It means limited innovation, lost competitiveness, brain drain, lack of data sovereignty, and the economic benefits of AI flowing elsewhere. Access to compute is no longer optional – it’s essential for digital sovereignty and for shaping our own AI future.”