Israel’s Biggest Opportunity Now Is AI, Economy Minister Says

Matthew Boesler and Romaine Bostick, Bloomberg News

Nir Barkat, Israel's economy minister, during a Bloomberg Television interview in New York, US, on Tuesday, June 6, 2023. Barkat said that artificial intelligence presents the biggest opportunity for Israel’s technology-heavy economy and workforce today. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Artificial intelligence presents the biggest opportunity for Israel’s technology-heavy economy, a senior minister said.

“It could be a game changer similar to what the internet did to the world,” Nir Barkat, Israel’s economy and industry minister, said Tuesday during a Bloomberg TV interview in New York. “It possibly could be that big in terms of opportunities it opens up for tech-oriented countries.”

About 10% of Israel’s labor force works in the tech sector and Barkat said he wants that to grow to 25% within 20 years.

“The growth, naturally, comes from the global market,” he said. “Because we’re so tiny — we’re less than 10 million people — if you want to succeed you’ve got to go global from the very beginning.”

Nvidia Corp., the chipmaker at the center of the global AI boom, last week said it is building a data center in Israel to demonstrate a product designed to tackle one of the biggest bottlenecks associated with AI computing. It builds on technology acquired in the 2020 purchase of Israeli company Mellanox Technologies.

--With assistance from Ian King.