Poland faces a widening AI gap as top talent migrates to US-based firms like OpenAI and Anthropic. While Polish engineers excel abroad, a lack of local compute infrastructure and high-quality datasets prevents the country from becoming a primary AI export hub.
The narrative of Poland as an "AI elite" is a myth. We love to cite our mathematicians and creative researchers, but the market doesn't reflect that.
It’s a brain drain in real-time. Our best minds aren’t building the next frontier in Warsaw; they’re doing it at DeepMind, OpenAI, or Anthropic. When the “Polish Mafia” at OpenAI—led by Wojciech Zaremba—makes waves, they do it abroad.
Why the “Compute Gap” is More Than Just Money
There is a persistent belief that throwing capital at the problem would instantly turn Poland into an AI superpower. That’s a fallacy. We do not have such strong competencies in this field. With that capital, a few entities developing AI at a world level would certainly emerge, but it is unlikely Poland could make artificial intelligence its export commodity. The country is still in the phase of building competencies, adaptation, and learning how to use the technology, rather than inventing novelties.
Currently, the country lacks the conviction that AI is a technology that will define the future. There is talk about the needs and importance of AI, but a lack of concrete actions.
Beyond the hardware, there is the issue of building models. To build a model, one needs massive datasets. The creators of Bielik note that Poland is currently in a phase of building competencies and adapting, rather than inventing new architectures or model improvements, where the country has the smallest representation.
The State of Polish AI
The Polish AI landscape has several layers. The first consists of influencers and publicists who report on industry events. Then there are visionaries trying to predict how AI will affect the economy or human life. Later are those who integrate models from large companies into their businesses or products. These three groups are the most widely represented in Poland. The fourth layer consists of builders of their own models, datasets, and tools—including the creators of Bielik. Finally, there are those involved in pure scientific work, such as inventing new architectures or model improvements. This is where there is the smallest representation.
- The Integration Gap: While there are more Poles capable of building models and firms capable of utilizing them, it is not yet the level of technology adoption seen in the West.
- The Talent Migration: The migration of talent is very one-sided—the most talented scientists usually fly overseas.
- The Investment Gap: Large companies dealing with artificial intelligence are not eager to invest in Poland.
The stories of ElevenLabs and DeepL—built by Poles, but abroad—show that it is difficult to repeat their success today because they hit a perfect time, just before the AI revolution erupted. Today, competition is enormous, making it very difficult for small teams without powerful capital backing to break through.
