China and U.S. lead the world in number of AI enterprises: report

Nearly half of the world's 36,000 artificial intelligence (AI) companies are based in either China or the U.S., according to a report jointly released by KPMG International Ltd. and China's ZGC Industry Institute.

By the end of June, the U.S. hosted 33.6 percent, or 13,000 of the world's 36,000 AI companies, while China was home to 5,734, or 16 percent, of the businesses, according to the report released on Monday.

The UK, India and Canada come next with the UK's 2,367 AI companies, while India and Canada have 2,080 and 1,515 respectively, said the report.

It also pointed out that, by the end of June, the total number of unicorns in the global AI field reached 291, with the U.S. and China accounting for 131 and 108 respectively. 

Among China's AI unicorns, Beijing has 41, ranking first in the country. Shanghai and Guangdong Province ranked second and third with 24 and 23 companies respectively, according to the report.

China's leading role in global AI management

"Since the breakthrough of deep learning in 2015, an initial wave of commercialization of AI has been set off. The advent of ChatGPT at the end of 2022 once again promoted the large-scale commercial use of AI," said JiangLiqin, head of clients and markets for KPMG China.

"As the global AI industry is becoming maturer and more rational, it is also nurturing a new opportunity for paradigm change. China, as one of the global leaders in the development of AI, is expected to build a globally competitive AI industrial cluster," said Jiang.

Daniel Chan, head of technology, media and telecommunications for KPMG China, believes that the wave of large-model innovation triggered by ChatGPT is still flowing.

In this context, whether promoting the development of large models from single mode to multi-mode, or advocating high-quality data and a new paradigm of computing, it is actually emphasizing the essence of artificial intelligence technological change, the exquisite cooperation and mutual promotion of the three basic elements of algorithm, data and computing power.

New trends of AI industry

In the view of Zhang Qingjie, the managing partner of KPMG China Digital Empowerment Consulting Services, the winning points in the global AI competition include core areas such as chips and data, with scenario application innovation also being extremely important.

"On the one hand, the shortcomings and deficiencies in the scenario application can provide entry points for technological breakthroughs; on the other hand, whether the scenario application can obtain commercial success determines whether industrialization can be promoted smoothly," said Zhang.

"Large model technology will reshape the basic form of production and consumption, and application scenarios represented by AI-Generated Content (AIGC), AI for Sciences (AI4S), and artificial general intelligence (AGI) are expected to present a large number of paradigm shift opportunities," Zhang added.

Moreover, it is noteworthy that strengthening security governance in the field of AI has become a consensus of all parties.

Allen Lu, head of technology, media and telecommunications audit for KPMG China, said "At present, whether it is technological innovation or application innovation in the field of AI, it can be called 'freedom of competition,' but freedom is limited, increasingly complex algorithm rules and black box mechanisms are causing algorithm discrimination, privacy disclosure, false information and other scientific and technological ethical issues."

"Thus, strengthening security governance is urgent as it has become the largest consensus of all parties," Lu added.

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