Every year, Stanford University’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence releases a big report about the status of the artificial intelligence industry. This year’s report, published this week, is a whopping 502 pages and includes a wealth of insights on the trendy technology. Tucked into its section on the economics of the AI industry is the surprising revelation that global corporate investment in AI actually dropped last year for the second straight year in a row.
During that year, total investment crested $337 billion. In 2022, it then dropped to $234 billion, before dropping another $40-ish billion last year. That said, the U.S. is still pouring money into AI at a rate that dwarfs all global competitors, and more AI companies launched last year than ever before. The report notes that U.S. investments in artificial intelligence last year were “nearly 8.7 times more than” that of China, which is the next highest investor, globally. Meanwhile, the U.S.