AI market share worldwide 2018, by vendor

IBM was the leader in the global artificial intelligence (AI) market in 2018, with a market share amounting to 9.2 percent. The AI market has grown steadily in the past years, with overall revenue reaching 28.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2018.

What is artificial intelligence?

   A popular field of computer science, artificial intelligence refers to the creation of intelligent hardware or software able to replicate human behaviors such as learning and problem solving. The technology is increasingly becoming a part of people’s everyday lives: voice assistants such as the Apple Siri are widely used by today's smartphone owners. AI enables machines to complete different “human” tasks from driving automobiles to playing chess to detect tumors.

AI spending growth drivers

    The global artificial intelligence industry is forecast to grow rapidly in the next few years. This comes as a result of heavy investments from software and information technology companies: AI-focused startups have been gaining funding momentum, with the total funding for such startups increasing by nearly fivefold in the last four years. A chunk of these startup companies is focusing on machine learning - a type of artificial intelligence technology that allows computers to learn without human assistance. AI applications and cloud services are also some of the main factors driving growth within the market.