Seoul claims top spot in global AI adoption, 3rd overall in 2026 AI Cities Index

Seoul has secured third place overall — and claimed the top spot worldwide in artificial intelligence (AI) adoption and implementation — in the newly released 2026 AI Cities Index compiled by Britain’s The Observer, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday. The benchmark evaluation, built on Tortoise Media’s established Global AI Index, assessed 57 major metropolitan centers across 36 countries using 50 indicators split into three core pillars: investment, innovation and implementation. San Francisco and New York claimed the top two global spots, while Seoul finished third, outranking major international hubs including Beijing, Paris and London, which filled out the fourth through sixth positions. The Observer, founded in 1791 as the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper, introduced city-level rankings for the first time this year, capturing a fundamental shift as AI power increasingly concentrates in urban centers. Seoul’s standout performance came in the implementation category, where it ranked first globally ahead of Tokyo (third) and Singapore (fifth). This metric measu