U.S. tech giants added $2.4 trillion to their market capitalizations in a year defined by the hype around generative artificial intelligence, according to a new report from venture capital firm Accel.
The world's biggest technology companies added $2.5 trillion to their market capitalizations in 2023, according to Accel data.The Euroscape index, which tracks several publicly-listed cloud stocks, is up 29% year-to-date, according to Accel. The world has been abuzz with talk about generative AI tools like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Bard and Anthropic's Claude.
The U.S. led the way in generative AI funding deals, with the likes of OpenAI and Anthropic raising billions. OpenAI raised the biggest sum — $10 billion — and Inflection came second with $1.3 billion raised.The number of new unicorns created in 2023 has reverted back to pre-Covid levels — however, AI is a bright spot with a majority of the unicorns now generative AI companies.
Tech companies tend to prioritize growth and expansion over short-term profits. But investors have been shifting money away from high-growth bets amid higher interest rates, which make the cost of capital more expensive.