City-scale AI Development and Regional AI Divide Assessment Datasets for China’s 283 Cities from 2003 to 2023

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a key driver of urban development in the digital age. Meanwhile, the uneven development of AI among cities is creating a new “digital divide”. As one of the pioneering countries in AI development, China has seized the opportunities presented by urban AI development while also encountering the challenge of a regional AI divide. This provides a unique context for the trajectory and spatial layout of regional AI development. However, existing city-scale AI development index assessments generally use a single indicator and have limitations such as insufficient indicator relevance, short coverage period, and lack of regional AI divide assessment. This study constructed a Chinese city-scale AI development index assessment dataset containing 283 cities and a province-scale regional AI divide dataset for 26 provinces from 2003 to 2023. hese datasets encompassed a composite indicator system and evaluation method consisting of three metrics: the number of AI enterprises, the number of patent applications, and the industrial robot installation density, and utilized the Dagum-Gini coefficient method to assess the regional AI divide index. These datasets can comprehensively assess the situation and development trends of AI development in Chinese cities and the regional AI divide, providing data support for academic research related to regional AI development and government policy-making.