Recent work has revealed rapid improvement in the algorithms that underpin modern computing. For many computations, these algorithmic innovations have been more important than those in computer hardware (including Moore’s Law, which is known to have substantially improved firm productivity). In this article, we analyze who built the “Algorithmic Commons”. We find that the United States has been the largest contributor of these public goods, with universities and large private labs (e.g. IBM) playing the biggest role. More broadly, we find a historical pattern of contributions consistent with world geopolitics, where the United States took algorithmic leadership in the post-war period, but that this has faded in recent decades as Europe recovered and then Asia grew.