Israel must build own AI infrastructure or risk dependence on foreign tech, AI czar warns

Israel needs its own artificial intelligence infrastructure and strategy, because critical services such as energy, water, and healthcare systems will soon depend on the technology, said Erez Askal, head of the National AI Directorate at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Speaking at the AI Week conference at Tel Aviv University on Monday, Askal warned that Israel is at risk of growing dependence on foreign tech companies and on access to their infrastructure and models, in order to run basic services that are expected to be managed by AI in the coming years.

Those concerns have sharpened this year. In June, American AI giant Anthropic, the developer of the Claude chatbot, temporarily restricted access to its most powerful models, including Mythos, to comply with a US Department of Commerce order over national security concerns. The episode showed governments how quickly access to frontier AI can be cut off, and why technological sovereignty in AI, computing, and infrastructure is increasingly becoming a strategic asset.

“AI is a revolution that will change how the state functions,” said Askal. “Within five to seven years, critical national infrastructures such as energy, water, and hospitals will operate on the basis of AI; whoever controls it will be the linchpin of all nations,” he predicted. “If it’s not your AI, you have no control over your country.”

The danger for countries like Israel, Askal argued, is growing reliance on commercial companies whose interests and values do not necessarily match their own. He cautioned that Israel cannot count solely on other countries, such as the US and China, for continuous long-term access to AI models, and that relying entirely on foreign companies risks exposure to external business interests and service disruptions.

“That is why we have decided to build our own sovereign AI stack,” he declared, using a term for AI infrastructure. “Israel needs to build technological sovereignty to maintain control over the key layers of AI infrastructure by investing in energy, computing power, a national model, quantum computing, and workforce training.”

The national strategy rests on three objectives, Askal said: “Securing technological sovereignty in AI, improving citizens’ quality of life through the technology, and leveraging Israel’s strengths to advance AI development worldwide.”

Israel requires about two gigawatts of electricity capacity to power AI infrastructure, data centers, and semiconductor facilities, Askal said. That’s enough to power well over a million homes. Currently, Israel has a capacity of about 1.5 gigawatts.

To run AI models Israel needs a computing infrastructure on a scale that does not exist today. Askal has set a target of about 300,000 GPUs (graphics processing units), of which around 100,000 will serve domestic needs across academia, government services, the defense sector and startups, and 200,000 will support the growth of technology companies and data centers in Israel.

GPUs can process massive amounts of data at speeds ordinary computers cannot match, which makes them essential for running complex simulations and developing AI models in areas from transportation and medicine to drug discovery.

The ambitious strategy, however, depends on vast budget allocation to advance substantial investments and AI infrastructure development. Implementing the multiyear plan would require an estimated $2 billion to $5 billion a year, and none of that is committed so far.

Israel does not have to go it alone, Askal noted.

“I believe we can develop it together with allies that face similar challenges,” he said. “This requires a great deal of data, substantial budgets and time, but we have no choice but to move forward.”

Israel’s initiatives come amid a global race to develop AI and quantum computing capabilities that serve national needs, and amid concern that some nations could be missing out, as major countries such as the US and China step up investments in the next wave of technologies.

Also speaking at the conference, US chipmaker Nvidia’s chief technology officer Michael Kagan said that globally “Israel is one of the three countries at the frontier of AI,” after the US and China.

“Israel is in a similar league in terms of technological capabilities – not in terms of the number of people,” said Kagan. “Israel has companies that are among the world’s leaders in designing very complicated chips and are active in AI safety and applications.”

“Nvidia’s chips are either designed entirely in Israel or involve Israeli teams in their development,” he added.