A comprehensive understanding of the current development and investment overview of the AI track

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is rising at lightning speed and is becoming a catalyst for global economic transformation.

1. The Rise of AI Technology and Industry Transformation

With the rapid development and integration of AI technology into society, we are experiencing unprecedented changes at an unprecedented speed. Although we are still in the early stages of development, the pace of AI development and its integration into society indicate that the impending changes will be unprecedented. According to the 27th annual global CEO survey by PwC, nearly one-third of enterprise organizations worldwide have adopted this technology since the emergence of AI, with 70% of CEOs expecting GenAI to significantly change the way their groups create content, deliver products, and obtain and enhance enterprise value over the next three years.

The potential of AI combined with various industries is enormous. The inference of AI’s impact on industry economy states that if the top five AI use cases (specific application scenarios) in a particular industry can create more than 50% of the total value generated by that industry, then the combination of AI technology with the industry not only has practical significance, but also has high development potential and commercial value, worthy of further exploration and investment.

1. In the computer industry, especially in software development, GenAI Coding Assistant can greatly improve productivity and enterprise profits. This is achieved through a new paradigm of human-machine collaboration, with GenAI responsible for generating most of the code content, while programmers focus on providing direction guidance and focusing on the quality control of the overall documentation and code details.

2. In the luxury goods industry, GenAI is able to provide highly personalized marketing services to different customers by analyzing their historical purchase data, browsing content, and personal preferences. Especially in the luxury goods industry, the quality of customer service, which is differentiated customized service, is highly valued, and this is also an important driving factor for pleasing customers and increasing revenue.

3. In the biomedicine industry, the application of AI is particularly worth following. In terms of breakthroughs in biological research, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Beyoncé Frederick, Alfred Debs, and Peter Hago for their research on protein folding using artificial intelligence. Their research has significantly advanced the development of biological science, especially in understanding and predicting protein structures. In terms of specific application terminals, StabilityAI applies AI technology to radiography films to assist doctors in interpreting the results. Another company, Zebra Medical Vision, uses AI technology for medical image analysis. Their AI technology products can help doctors diagnose diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and pneumonia more efficiently and accurately.

II. Recent Major Events in the Global AI Field

1 The number of AI users in my country has exceeded 600 million, and the scale of the artificial intelligence industry is maintaining a high-speed rise, containing new opportunities for the industry

CCTV reported on October 13 that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that the registered users of China’s large-scale AI service model have exceeded 600 million. Zhao Zhiguo, Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, stated that the scale of China’s core AI industry is continuously increasing, with the number of enterprises exceeding 4,500, and over 200 large-scale AI service models have completed filing and launched.

2 ChatGPT releases major update——ChatGPT Canvas

The updated Canvas is a brand new interactive interface designed to make AI understand user needs better. Users can edit and improve AI output on the Canvas, just like having a professional copy editor or code reviewer to assist them.

Currently, Canvas has been opened to ChatGPT Plus and Team users, and Enterprise and Edu users will also gain access next week.

OpenAI has completed a $6.6 billion round of financing, with the company’s valuation soaring to over a trillion dollars

On October 2, 2024, OpenAI completed a $6.6 billion financing round, which raised the company’s valuation to $157 billion. In this financing, Thrive Capital served as the lead investor, and companies such as Microsoft, Nvidia, and SoftBank also participated in the investment, with Microsoft investing approximately $750 million. This financing took the form of convertible notes, marking OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit company.

Google is developing new AI software that simulates human reasoning abilities

Google is developing a new type of artificial intelligence software that aims to simulate human reasoning ability to solve complex problems in fields such as mathematics and computer programming. The core of this technology lies in its ability to enable AI systems to engage in deep thinking and reasoning when dealing with problems, thus deriving more accurate and effective solutions. This technology is similar to OpenAI’s o1, both of which are dedicated to improving AI’s reasoning and problem-solving capabilities.

5 Google will invest $1 billion in Thailand to establish an AI data center

In addition to Google, companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Amazon are also actively investing in Southeast Asia, investing billions of dollars in building artificial intelligence data centers in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and other places to strengthen the cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure of these technology giants in Southeast Asia.

3. Entrepreneurial Trends and Investment Dynamics in the AI Era

Entrepreneurs in the current AI era have shown characteristics such as youthfulness, elitism, and small team sizes, with an average of only 5-10 people per startup team. Moreover, most of them are post-95s from prestigious universities or well-known companies, with a relatively high proportion of Chinese, accounting for about 30-40%. In the AI industry in North America, Chinese people basically dominate a significant portion.

Entrepreneurial teams in Silicon Valley tend to be more inclined to sell products rather than large models, and believe that a deep understanding of business scenarios is crucial; while venture capital (VC) teams tend to invest more in ToB scenarios and have higher commercialization requirements for AI startups. However, VC investment in the AI field is very active, with a large number of invested companies. YC alone supports 300 companies in the first phase, which is a very large number. It is precisely these increasingly active angel investments, early-stage investments, and VCs that provide a very important soil for the AI entrepreneurial environment in Silicon Valley.

In the first half of 2024, the total financing amount in the global AIGC industry reached 138.4 billion yuan, with a total of 363 investment events, and the total financing amount increased by 23.3% compared to the same period last year (USD 15.8 billion in 2023). The number of financing events also surged by 307.9% (89 events in 2023).

In the global scope, the investment performance of major manufacturers: Microsoft’s investment in the AIGC field has reached a cumulative total of 10 billion US dollars, which leads among all companies. Amazon closely follows, with a cumulative investment of 4 billion US dollars. Google ranks third with a cumulative investment of 2.5 billion US dollars. Domestic major manufacturers are also closely following, closely investing in development: Alibaba’s cumulative investment in the AIGC track is 1.5 billion US dollars. Tencent, as China’s leading internet service provider, has a cumulative investment of 400 million US dollars in the AIGC track, which reflects the company’s expansion of AI technology application in multiple fields such as gaming, social media, and content creation.

In the first half of 2024, investment institutions on the AIGC track were very active. In terms of financing frequency, three investment institutions Lux Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Andreessen Horowitz completed 6 investments each, jointly topping the list of active overseas investment institutions. Overseas individual investors frequently made investments in AIGC track companies, completing 20 investments in just the first half of the year.

In terms of investment amount, a total of 19 overseas institutions have cumulatively invested more than 200 million US dollars in the first half of 2024. Compared to the 9 overseas institutions with over a billion in investment in 2023, institutions are showing an increasing enthusiasm for AIGC. Among them, Amazon leads with approximately 3 billion US dollars, while Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital follow with approximately 1 billion and 900 million, respectively, ranking second and third.

Four. AI Market Trends - Development and Application of Multimodal

AI technology is developing towards the direction of multimodality. Through products such as text-to-video, text-to-music, image-to-video, and image-to-music, AI is learning to perceive and understand the world in a more comprehensive way. This multimodal development of technology allows AI to approach human perception and cognition, thus playing a greater role in more fields.

From the perspective of the major trend in the first half of 2024, chatbots, as one of the most practical and popular functions in the field of artificial intelligence, are developing very strongly. In the past six months, the user base and application scenarios of chatbots have achieved a significant rise, and the overall traffic has doubled. At the same time, the vertical directions of smart search and graphic design have also shown stable market demand, with a steady Fluctuation in traffic over the past six months. In the emotional companionship direction, although the current user base is not large, the rise trend is very stable. As people’s emphasis on mental companionship and psychological health continues to increase, emotional companionship products, which provide chat, listening, and emotion analysis services through virtual images, are gradually becoming an important channel for users to seek emotional support.

Summary

With the continuous progress of AI technology and the expansion of application areas, the future prospects of AI applications are full of hope. From chatbots to emotion companionship products, AI is integrating into people’s daily lives in various ways, bringing convenience and innovation to society. Entrepreneurs and investors in the AI era are jointly promoting this transformation, and each of us will be witnesses and participants in this transformation. The development of AI will not only change our way of work, but also our way of life. Let us look forward to a smarter and more convenient future together.