## 4 Comparative Look at Digital Power Indicators
Although Russia ranks last in R&D and economic indicators, it has led in military spending as a share of GDP since 2015, with China last on this measure. Arms exports are another benchmark of military power: the U.S. dominates, while China ranks fourth behind the U.S., Russia, and France. From 2014 to 2018, the U.S. accounted for 34% of global arms exports, Russia for 21%, and China for just 5.9%. However, Russia's arms exports dropped by 53% from 2019 to 2023 due to its military industry's shift to domestic rearrangment during the Ukraine war, reducing its share to 11% and placing it third, behind France, which is second, and before China, which remains fourth [82]. Notably, despite modest military spending and limited arms exports, China now outpaces Russia in the tech rivalry, highlighting a shift in the balance of power. The data illustrates that while military power remains essential, it is not enough on its own to define global leadership today. Other factors, especially technological indicators, are equally vital, as shown by current tech rivalries. This underscores the need to examine digital and AI-related metrics as well. Across various AI-related indicators, the U.S. and China are clearly the top two leaders, while Russia does not even rank among the top 5-10. See, for example, the International Digital Economy and Society Index (I-DESI) [83], which compares the EU's digital-economic performance with 18 other countries using 24 weighted indicators. According to the latest 2020 report, the U.S. leads by a wide margin, while Russia and China rank lowest, with similar scores (see Figure 2). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & **1991** & **1995** & **2000** & **2005** & **2010** & **2015** & **2020** & **2021** & **2022** & **2023** \\ \hline  & & \multicolumn{8}{c}{GDP (current Trillion USD, 2022)} \\ \hline U.S. & 6.16 & 7.64 & 10.25 & 13.04 & 15.05 & 18.3 & 21.35 & 23.68 & 26.01 & 27.72 \\ \hline Russia & 0.52 & 0.4 & 0.26 & 0.76 & 1.52 & 1.36 & 1.49 & 1.84 & 2.27 & 2.02 \\ \hline China & **0.38** & 0.73 & 1.21 & 2.29 & 6.09 & 11.06 & 14.69 & 17.82 & 17.88 & 17.79 \\ \hline  & & \multicolumn{8}{c}{Military expenditure (\% of GDP)} \\ \hline U.S. & 4.88 & 3.86 & 3.11 & 4.09 & 4.9 & 3.46 & 3.65 & 3.42 & 3.34 & 3.36 \\ \hline Russia & n/a & 3.78 & 3.31 & 3.33 & 3.59 & 4.87 & 4.17 & 3.61 & 1.69 & 5.86 \\ \hline China & **2.31** & 1.69 & 1.84 & **1.87** & 1.73 & 1.78 & 1.76 &One more key AI ranking is the Tortoise Global AI Index (TGAII), which utilizes 111 indicators across seven areas, Talent, Infrastructure, Operating Environment, Research, Development, Government Strategy, and Commercial, to assess global AI leadership. In its fifth update (September 2024), the U.S. remains the clear leader, followed by China, while Russia ranks 31 st out of 83, between Brazil and Estonia [84]. Based on earlier Tortoise data [85], Figure 3 shows scores from 1 to 100 for each country across the seven categories for each country. This highlights Russia's lag, mainly due to relatively low R&D, talent, and commercial scores. Additional R&D funding data and patent trends support this finding. Stanford University's AI Index team [86] publishes \"The Global AI Vibrancy Tool\" [87] that offers detailed weighted index scores for R&D and economic indicators. Based on 2023 data, the U.S. ranks first, followed immediately by China, while Russia ranks 29 th. Another indicator of digital ecosystem vitality and leadership is the number of patent applications submitted, especially those by non-residents, which suggests the ecosystem's attractiveness. Trends in patent applications from the WIPO database [88] (see Figure 4) reveal three key points. First, Russia consistently shows low patent activity. Second, China experienced significant growth since the early 2000s, surpassing the U.S. in the early 2010s. Third, in the U.S., non-resident patent applications make up over half of the total, highlighting America's innovation strength in attracting global talent and intellectual property compared to China.