Meanwhile, the number of new AI startups armed with fresh funding in 2022 was 1,392 – a 12 percent decrease from the 1,669 recorded the year prior. Interestingly, an annual survey performed by McKinsey revealed that the number of companies adopting AI in 2022 more than doubled since 2017, but has plateaued in recent years.
Although the statistics show a declining rate of investment, it doesn't mean things are slowing down. As the technology matures, it's becoming increasingly competitive to launch AI startups."The decline in newly funded AI startups means that investment is concentrating: larger pools of money are going to fewer players," Maslej said.
The data from the survey conducted by McKinsey was collected before the launch of the most hyped models like OpenAI's ChatGPT and GPT-4, he explained. As companies from all sorts of industries deploy new products and features built using these new tools, AI adoption seems to be increasing again. "It's safe to assume adoption rates will continue to fluctuate around significant milestone AI model deployments," Maslej suggested.
It's still too early to see how much generative AI has affected the economy so far, and we'll probably have to wait for next year's AI Index Report. ®