CONCEPT
The Nation as Market
Moore's framework applied at
geopolitical scale — treating nations as markets at different lifecycle positions whose AI readiness depends on the whole product of institutional infrastructure, not model capability.
The
Geoffrey Moore — On AI volume extends the technology adoption lifecycle to nations, arguing that countries sit at different positions on the AI adoption curve and that their strategic prospects depend less on generic product capability (models, chips, research) than on
whole product infrastructure (education systems, retraining programs, regulatory frameworks, institutional trust, cultural narratives about human value). The United States leads in visionary-phase investment but lags in pragmatist-population readiness. The European Union builds regulatory infrastructure but may over-optimize the productivity zone at the expense of the incubation zone. China attempts to force-march through the chasm via state direction, producing breadth without depth. The nations that lead the AI era will be the ones that build the best whole products for their citizens, not the ones that build the best models.
In The You On AI Field Guide
The framework reframes the geopolitical AI competition. The standard narrative treats the race as a technology race — which nation produces the most