How Many AI Companies Are There? (2024)

AI is becoming increasingly commonplace across many industries. And every year, there is a growing number of AI companies.

Below, we’ll explore how many companies currently use AI, as well as other relevant data associated with the topic.

• Top AI Company Stats
• Number of AI Companies in 2023
• Countries Ranked by AI Capacity
• How Many Companies Use AI?
• New AI Startups Acquisitions By Year
• Global AI Funding
• Global AI Revenue
• AI Companies by Region
• AI Market Key Players

Top AI Companies Stats

• There are currently approximately 70,000 AI companies worldwide
• Around 1 in 4 AI companies are based in the US
• There are over 115 million companies currently using AI
• Approximately 2 in 5 (42%) companies are exploring the use of AI
• Global AI funding grew by 7x between 2015 and 2019
• China has the highest global rate of AI deployment (58%)
• Baidu is the largest patent owner with around 14,000 patent families registered

Number of AI Companies in 2024

According to the latest available data, there are around 67,200 artificial intelligence companies.

A large percentage of AI companies and startups are based in the United States (approximately 25%). 

Since 2017, the number of US AI companies has more than doubled.

Sources: Tracxn, eWeek

AI Companies by Region

China has the highest rate of AI deployment (58%), closely followed by India (57%).

These figures are considerably higher than the global average of 34%.

As of 2022, the US is lagging behind with a comparatively low 25% AI deployment rate.

Here’s a selection of nations and regions compare in terms of AI use:

Source: IBM

How Many Companies Use AI?

Recent data suggests that over one-third (35%) of companies use AI.

That means that approximately 116.67 million worldwide use AI.

In total, 42% of companies (140 million) are exploring the use of AI.

Sources: BusinessDIT, Brimco

Countries Ranked by AI Capacity

According to the fourth iteration of the Global AI Index (published June 2023), the US has the highest AI capacity.

The US scored top marks in terms of AI talent, infrastructure, research, development, and commercial viability.

Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 countries by AI capacity scores according to the latest report:

And here’s a look at those same countries by AI capacity rank:

Source: Tortoise Media

New AI Startups Acquisitions By Year

AI startup acquisitions saw a 13-year peak in 2019 (242).

Between 2010 and 2019, AI acquisitions increased year-over-year. But have dropped off every year since, dropping below 2015’s 48 acquisitions to 47.

Here’s a look at the number of AI startup acquisitions since 2010:

Source: CB Insights, AIM Research

Global AI Funding

AI funding has grown by over 7x since 2015, reaching $93.5 billion in 2021.

This is how AI funding has progressed over recent years:

Source: Stanford University

Global AI Revenue

It is estimated that global AI revenue has more than doubled from $95.6 billion in 2021 to approximately £207.9 billion in 2023.

By 2030, that figure is expected to exceed $1.8 trillion. That’s an increase of around 9x since 2023.

Here’s a projection of global AI revenue:

Source: Next Move Strategy Consulting

AI Market Key Players

Baidu is the largest patent owner with 13,993 patent families registered. This figure has more than doubled since 2020 (5,885).

Tencent (13,187) and State Grid Corp (11,555) each have over 10,000 patent families.

Here are the top companies by AI patents:

Source: LexisNexis PatentSight

Conclusion

The above data paints a clear picture of the growing use of AI.

And in the coming years, the number of AI companies looks likely to increase further.

If you found this data interesting, take a look at our other AI-related content: Top AI Trends, Growing AI Companies & Startups, and AI Market Size Statistics.