The Geopolitics Shaping AI: A boardroom perspective

Navigating the geopolitical haze and uncertainties of tariffs has given many business leaders and boards a crash course on the complicated intersection of geopolitics and trade. Geotechnology is running a close second, with artificial intelligence (AI) joining the global technology issues—including data privacy, IP, cybersecurity, 5G/6G infrastructure, and standards—that are demanding attention from multinational businesses and boards as tech and geopolitics become more intertwined.

ChatGPT’s explosive global penetration—from 1 million users in its first five days in late 2022 to 700 million users by mid-2025 across 200 countries—serves as a bellwether of AI’s rapid progress.¹ AI continues to outpace regulators’ ability to keep up, despite myriad new rules and regulations, and geopolitical competition has hampered efforts to establish a global approach to governing the technology. Still, the pressures on businesses to forge ahead with AI continue to mount.

As companies grapple with the practical implications of AI’s rapid advance—regulatory, strategic, operational, reputational, and organizational—the geopolitical forces shaping its evolution provide an important backdrop for boardroom conversations. AI’s current capabilities and rate of adoption are already remaking traditional business models, changing labor force dynamics, and influencing strategic competition between countries. Corporate leaders must understand and plan for not just the potential impact of AI on their businesses, but also the broader evolution of the policy landscape and geopolitical impact of AI.

The KPMG Board Leadership Center and Eurasia Group explore the fast-evolving regulatory landscape and the implications for board oversight.

 ¹ “OpenAI’s ChatGPT to hit 700 million weekly users, up 4x from last year,” CNBC, August 4, 2025.