Venture capitalists are pushing a lot of cash into artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, more than doubling the investment into virtual reality technologies in 2016, according to PitchBook data via the National Venture Capital Association.
Why it matters: U.S. investors want an edge on the development of next-generation technologies that center around AI, including self-driving cars. Other countries such as China are also charging ahead.
President Trump yesterday told venture capitalists and emerging tech company execs that his administration wants to help "unleash the next generation of technological breakthroughs that will transform our lives and transform our country, and make us number one in this field." The White House gathering was largely focused on drones, 5G wireless technologies and connected devices.
Big bets: AI technologies have also captured the mindshare of the biggest tech companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon who are investing a lot of research and development resources into machine learning, deep learning and neural networks. AI-related technologies are at the core of emerging systems like self-driving cars. In 2016, there were 322 deals worth a total of $3.6 billion in investment into AI and machine learning companies, compared with only 31 such deals in 2007.
Virtual reality and augmented reality are also attracting investments, but those applications are seen as more narrowly tailored for specific uses, as opposed to the mass adoption potential seen for AI. There were 99 deals worth a total of $1.485 billion in this area in 2016, up from 23 deals in 2007.