Deep interest in AI: New high in deals to artificial intelligence startups in Q4’15

Advancements in AI were recently spotlighted by AlphaGo, a computer program developed by Google’s DeepMind team. The program — which relies on decision-making algorithms and neural networks — defeated a human European champion at the board game Go in a feat previously believed to be years away. On the investor side, Jim Breyer of Breyer Capital has said AI will deliver massive returns for investors betting on applications for industries including healthcare and entertainment. With this in mind, we used CB Insights’ database to look at funding to artificial intelligence startups since 2010. Our artificial intelligence category covers startups primarily focused on developing AI, across areas including image processing, natural language processing, machine learning, deep learning, and predictive APIs, among other core applications. We found that AI startups have raised an aggregate $967M in funding since 2010, with investments going to companies in 13 separate countries and 10 industry categories, including business intelligence, e-commerce, and healthcare.