# A Third Pole Forms in AI

As frontier AI capability concentrates in dominant US and Chinese firms, middle powers led by Japan build third-pole AI partnerships with Global South states, fragmenting AI governance, standards and supply into more than two competing blocs.

- Conviction: 40 / 100 (forming)
- Horizon: Emerging (watchlist)
- Tracking since: 2026-07-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Last updated: 2026-07-25T05:46:56.046Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/trends/multipolar-ai-blocs
- Publisher: Polylog
- Affected regions: Global, China

## Recent evidence

- [confirms] Japan Courts India and Malaysia to Build an AI Bloc Beyond the US-China Duopoly (2026-07-25): A parallel report frames Japan's outreach to India and Malaysia as building an AI bloc beyond the US-China duopoly even as Asian workers absorb early labor shocks, a second signal of a forming third pole.
- [confirms] Japan Courts India and Malaysia to Escape a US-China AI Duopoly (2026-07-25): Tokyo is building artificial-intelligence dialogues with India and Malaysia to reduce reliance on dominant American and Chinese firms, an early move to assemble an AI bloc outside the US-China duopoly.