Generative AI frenzy
The chatbot technology fever since the release of Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT late last year has triggered a frenzy of investment. Financing of leading generative AI companies totalled $2.1bn in 2022, up tenfold from 2020, write Nikkei’s Kentaro Takeda, Akira Oikawa, and Yukiko Une.
Despite the headwinds facing start-up investments generally, the enterprise value of some 100 major generative AI companies totalled $48bn in January — a sixfold increase since the end of 2020. OpenAI alone is valued at an estimated $29bn, while US start-up Jasper AI and four others have also achieved unicorn status — valuations of $1bn or more.
AI has been generating massive amounts of text, imagery, and other content. The start-up companies now have to prove they can produce the cash to match the output — and the enormous financial investments they have devoured.