How Many AI Companies Are There Worldwide? (Updated)

AI Companies Stats Summary

• There are over 55,000 AI companies globally.
• The worldwide AI market reached an estimated value of around US$241 billion in 2023.
• The AI Robotics market is expected to achieve a market size of approximately US$15.04 billion by 2023.
• As of May 2023, Baidu had submitted over 22,000 patent applications related to AI on a global scale.
• In the United Kingdom, there are 758 AI startups, with 645 of them located in London.

Notable AI Companies

ChatGPT-1 was launched in June 2018 and started gaining traction on social media in November 2023. Remarkably, ChatGPT achieved a milestone of 100 million monthly active users in January 2023, marking it as one of the fastest-growing applications in history.

A study by Grand View Research indicates that AI is continuing to revolutionize various industries, with an anticipated annual growth rate of 37% from 2023 to 2030. This significant growth underscores the increasing impact of AI technologies in the coming years.

North America

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a multinational technology company based in Redmond, Washington. Among its prominent software offerings are the Windows series of operating systems, the Microsoft 365 suite comprising productivity applications, and the Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers.

The company has integrated ChatGPT technology into its Bing search engine and has seamlessly woven AI capabilities into its product portfolio, including offerings like Microsoft Azure.

Alphabet/Google

Google LLC, headquartered in the United States, specializes in artificial intelligence, online advertising, and various technology-related endeavors. Alphabet is setting the pace with 15 acquisitions of AI startups, making it the leader in this domain, with Microsoft following closely behind.

Google, along with its parent company Alphabet, delved into AI and deep learning by establishing the Google AI division in 2017. At the Google I/O conference in May 2023, which is their annual developer event, AI grabbed the spotlight with the introduction of the Search Generative Experience, AI-powered editing, and other innovations.

Nvidia

Nvidia is a prominent American technology company that focuses on designing GPUs, APIs for data science and high-performance computing. The company is renowned for its role as a key provider of artificial intelligence hardware and software.

The company holds an 82% share of the GPU market and has played a pivotal role in significant AI technological advancements like its involvement in the development of ChatGPT, which utilized 10,000 NVIDIA GPUs for training.

Europe

DeepMind

This company, initially founded in the United Kingdom in 2010 under the name DeepMind Technologies Limited and later rebranded as Google DeepMind, serves as a prominent British-American AI research laboratory.

After Google’s acquisition in 2014, it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. during Google’s corporate restructuring in 2015. Its principal headquarters is situated in London, and it boasts additional research centers in Canada, France, and the United States.

Graphcore

Graphcore is a UK-based semiconductor firm dedicated to creating accelerators for AI and machine learning. They are the innovators behind the Intelligence Processing Unit (IPU), a cutting-edge processor tailor-made for artificial intelligence applications.

The IPU’s distinctive architecture empowers developers to run existing machine-learning models at remarkable speeds. Founded in 2016, the company is headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom.

Darktrace

Darktrace is a cyber-security company headquartered in Cambridge, England. Founded in 2013 in Cambridge, it has since evolved, with its research function now reportedly operating in the Netherlands as part of a collaboration with British intelligence agencies and Invoke Capital.

The company uses unsupervised machine learning to unify networks, devices, and users for real-time threat detection. They deploy Antigena, an autonomous response technology, to counter cyber-attacks.

Asia

Baidu

This is a leading Chinese multinational technology company that specializes in Internet-related services, products, and artificial intelligence (AI). Headquartered in Beijing’s Haidian District, it stands as one of the world’s largest AI and Internet corporations.

Baidu is leading in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) patents worldwide, with 13,993 patents as of December 2022. In that year, it overtook Tencent, which held the second position with 13,187 patents.

Ubtech Robotics

This company specializes in humanoid robots and was founded in 2012 by Zhou Jian. In 2017, they showcased their latest innovations at IFA Berlin.

In 2018, a Guinness World Record was set for the largest simultaneous robot dance, featuring 1,372 Alpha S1 robots from this company. This achievement surpassed the previous record of 1,069 robots.

Additionally, in 2020, their robots played a crucial role in aiding medical workers treating COVID-19 patients in Shenzhen.

DJI

DJI, a Chinese technology company based in Shenzhen, Guangdong, is supported by various state-owned entities. The company specializes in the production of commercial unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) primarily for aerial photography and videography.

They also design and manufacture camera systems, gimbal stabilizers, propulsion systems, enterprise software, aerial agriculture equipment, and flight control systems.

As of March 2021, DJI holds a dominant share, approximately 76%, of the global consumer drone market. Their camera drone technology finds extensive use in the music, television, and film industries.

Africa

InstaDeep

This company was established in 2014 and has since become a leading provider of AI solutions for enterprise decision-making in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) region. With its headquarters in London and additional offices in Paris, Tunis, Lagos, Dubai, and Cape Town.

CB Insights has consistently ranked InstaDeep among the top 100 most promising AI startups worldwide for three consecutive years. In June 2019, the company entered into a collaboration with DeepMind and Google Research for AI initiatives.

Sama

Sama was founded by the late Leila Janah in 2008 and it was one of the first AI companies to receive B Corp Certification. This platform provides a comprehensive, end-to-end solution for AI training data development requirements.

The company has provided valuable assistance to clients across a wide spectrum of industries, encompassing autonomous vehicles, retail, e-commerce, agriculture, robotics, and various other sectors.

Yemaachi

Yemaachi Biotech was founded in 2020 by Yaw Bediako, David Hutchful, Joyce Ngoi, and Yaw Attua-Afari. This is a Ghanaian research organization dedicated to expanding access to precision diagnostics and therapeutic solutions for cancer.

The company provides a self-sampling solution called Sheba HPV, aimed at detecting high-risk cases of Cervical Cancer, along with various methods for enhancing molecular diagnostic and prognostic tests.

Global AI Competition

USA and China continue to lead in AI investment, with the United States taking the overall lead since 2013, having invested nearly $300 billion in over 4,600 companies cumulatively.

Below are the leading 10 countries in the AI investment race, based on information sourced from the AI Index 2023 Annual Report showing investments between 2013 and 2030:

Countries	Number of AI Startups	Private Investment
1. United States	4643	$249 bn
2. China	1337	$95 bn
3. United Kingdom	630	$18 bn
4. Israel	402	$11 bn
5. Canada	341	$9 bn
6. France	338	$7 bn
7. India	296	$8 bn
8. Japan	294	$4 bn
9. Germany	245	$7 bn
10. Singapore	165	$5 bn

Businesses Adopting AI

From the graph provided below, it is important to note that AI technologies are currently predominantly employed by a minority of businesses. However, it is evident that their adoption is more widespread within certain sectors and among larger enterprises.

Conclusion

The global landscape of AI companies is continually evolving and expanding. While it is challenging to provide an exact count of how many AI companies exist worldwide due to the rapid growth of this industry, it is clear that AI is playing an increasingly prominent role in various sectors.

These companies are driving innovation, creating job opportunities, and contributing to the advancement of technology.

In summary, keeping an eye on the increasing number and variety of AI companies is crucial as AI becomes more widespread in our daily lives. This helps us grasp where this game-changing technology is headed.

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