deployment and advancements in dynamic AI solutions are driving the overall
industry growth.
We are at the cusp of mass adoption of AI. AI technologies are developing
very quickly, and this acceleration is due to a confluence of factors. Computer
power is growing, algorithms and AI models are becoming more sophisticated,
and, perhaps most important of all, the world is generating once-unimaginable
volumes of the fuel that powers AI - data. Billions of gigabytes every day,
collected by networked devices ranging from web browsers to turbine sensors.
Annual data generation is expected to reach 44 zettabytes (trillions of GB) by
2020, according to IDC's Digital Universe report, a CAGR of 141% over five
years, suggesting that we are just beginning to see the use cases to which these
technologies will be applied.
25
Due to these developments, the AI sector has drawn a massive amount
of money from all types of investors – traditional VCs to corporate/strategic
investors, growth funds and private equity. Investment in the sector hit new
highs in 2017 with an estimated $6 billion invested into AI and machine learning
companies this year, according to Venture Scanner data (see Figure 18). That
is almost double what was invested in all of 2016, marking the largest recorded
sum ever put into the space in a comparable period. Over 250 companies
disclosed funding investments this year with at least 28 AI and machine learning
companies closing rounds of $20 million or more.
26
Nearly 40 percent of the
funding in 2017 went to two companies: (i) Argo AI, a Pittsburgh-based developer
of AI technology for self-driving vehicles, raised $1 billion from Ford in February,
and (ii) Hong Kong-based SenseTime raised $410 million to develop applications
25
"Profiles in Innovation: Artificial Intelligence – AI, Machine Learning and Data Fuel the Future of Productivity."
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., 14 Nov. 2016, page 5.
26
Glasner, Joanna. VCs determined to replace your job keep AI's funding surge rolling in Q2. TechCrunch, 15
July 2017,
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rolling-in-q2.
69
Taiwan Economic Forum
Volume 15, Number 4
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