Which tech giants have invested the most in AI?
Despite the buzz around Artificial Intelligence (AI), which firms have made the acquisitions to support it?
Google, Apple and Microsoft have invested the most in chasing the AI space through acquisitions, according to new research by RS Components.
By comparing the acquisition records of the top 10 tech giants over the last 19 years, RS Components were able to reveal which company is investing the most in AI startups.
Google come out on top as the biggest investor in AI and over the last two decades it has disclosed that it has invested $3,719m (£2,776m) in 29 companies.
However, Microsoft Windows began investing in AI before anyone else as its first investment was back in 1998 when it spent $40 million on Firefly Network. Google started investing next, but not until 2006.
Amazon invested the highest amount in a single company at $775 million when it invested in Kiva System back in 2012. The firm is now known as Amazon Robotics.
The top 10 companies that have acquired the most AI start-ups are:
1. Google, who have bought 29 companies and spent $3,720 million in acquisition costs in total
2. Apple, who have bought 14 companies and spent $311 million in acquisition costs in total
3. Microsoft, who have bought nine companies and spent $450 million in acquisition costs in total
4. Amazon, who have bought eight companies and spent $821 million in acquisition costs in total
5. Facebook, who have bought seven companies and spent $60 million in acquisition costs in total
6. Salesforce, who have bought five companies and spent $33 million in acquisition costs in total
7. Intel, who have bought five companies and spent $776 million in acquisition costs in total
8. Yahoo, who have bought four companies but have not disclosed how much money they spent on acquisition costs
9. Twitter, who have bought four companies and spent $629 million in acquisition costs in total
10. IBM, who have bought four companies but have not disclosed how much money they spent on acquisition costs.