Tech titans Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, and NVIDIA collectively boosted their market value by an astounding $2.4 trillion, surging at an average rate of 36%. A recent Euroscape 2023 report by venture capital firm Accel revealed this monumental rise, crediting generative artificial intelligence tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard for driving this transformative wave.
AI, omnipresent in the tech landscape, powered cloud services and software-as-a-service (SaaS) sectors, propelling them to a remarkable 29% increase in the Euroscape index. Philippe Botteri, a partner at Accel, emphasized AI’s ubiquity across startups and established companies, underlining its pivotal role in shaping the tech industry.
The US led in AI funding deals, with OpenAI securing a colossal $10 billion, followed by Inflection at $1.3 billion. In Europe, France dominated the AI landscape, producing notable rounds such as Hugging Face ($235 million) and Mistral AI ($113 million). In the newly minted unicorn realm, generative AI captured a significant share, constituting 40% in Europe and Israel and a staggering 80% in the US.
However, regulatory challenges loomed large. Stricter measures hindered tech giants’ deal-making activities, reducing significant transactions from 27 in 2021 to a mere 10 in 2023. Even Microsoft faced regulatory hurdles in its bid for Activision Blizzard, a battle only resolved after intense scrutiny and lengthy negotiations.
The year 2023 stands as a testament to AI’s transformative power, steering the tech industry toward unprecedented heights, albeit with regulatory obstacles challenging their path forward. Source: CNBC