Top AI unicorns worldwide 4th quarter 2023, by valuation

China's ByteDance unicorn remains the highest-valued unicorn on the global AI startup scene in 2023. ByteDance is behind the phenomenally popular mobile app TikTok, an application that has been under scrutiny by lawmakers in the United States in 2023 and into 2024. Notable newcomers include OpenAI, a startup funded heavily by Microsoft, and Anduril, an AI weapons development company in the United States.

The U.S. as a global leader

Despite the size of ByteDance, it is the U.S. that holds the largest share of unicorns, with eight of the top ten unicorns being situated in country, most of them in California. Faire is the only other exception, a German AI-focused wholesaler. The U.S. has commanded the lion’s share of startup deals globally, with some 1,100 deals in 2023, with Europe and Asia having around 500 deals each.

OpenAI draws in the funding

The startup responsible for jump-starting the generative AI revolution with its release of ChatGPT in late 2022 is OpenAI. It has commanded funding of around 14 billion U.S. dollars as of 2023, a staggering amount compared to its next competitor Anthropic, which has accrued just under 3.5 billion U.S. dollars.