Frontier technologies represented a $2.5 trillion market in 2023 and are estimated to increase sixfold in the next decade, reaching $16.4 trillion by 2033, finds UNCTAD
Chennai: The global artificial intelligence (AI) market is projected to hit $4.8 trillion by 2033, which is roughly the size of Germany's economy. The market has grown 25-fold in just ten years.
In 2023, based on high expectations of revenue growth, its market capitalization more than tripled to $1.2 trillion, and it nearly tripled again in 2024. The United States leads the world in terms of private investment in AI, at $67 billion in 2023, or 70 per cent of global AI private investment. The only developing countries with significant investments were China in the second position, with $7.8 billion, and India in the tenth position, with $1.4 billion.
Frontier technologies represented a $2.5 trillion market in 2023 and are estimated to increase sixfold in the next decade, reaching $16.4 trillion by 2033, finds UNCTAD.
By 2033, the frontier technology with the largest market size is likely to be AI, at around $4.8 trillion, accounting for 30 per cent of the overall market. Continuous breakthroughs are making AI more powerful and efficient, favouring its adoption in many sectors and business functions.
Since 2022, there has been a surge in interest in Generative AI (GenAI), with organizations across different countries and industries experimenting with its use in a wide range of tasks, including content creation, product development, automated coding and personalized customer service.
The leading frontier technology providers are now among the largest corporations in the world by market capitalization. Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft each have a market capitalization of more than $3 trillion, close to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the African continent, or that of the United Kingdom.
The main providers of frontier technologies are from the United States, developed countries in Western Europe, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea.
Companies in the United States have an edge in digital technologies and computing platforms, such as AI, IoT, big data, blockchain and 3D printing. Companies from Japan lead in robotics development and those from the Republic of Korea are more active in 5G and nanotechnologies. Among developing countries, China leads technological development in 5G, drones and solar photovoltaics.
Since 2022, there has been a surge in interest in Generative AI (GenAI), with organizations across different countries and industries experimenting with its use in a wide range of tasks, including content creation, product development, automated coding and personalized customer service.
According to UNCTAD, the benefits of AI are far from evenly distributed. A small group of economies and around 100 firms control the bulk of AI research, patents, and computing power.
