Global AI Companies and Market Growth

The wave of artificial intelligence is sweeping the globe, with technological innovation and industrial applications promoting each other while testing global AI risk governance.

In response to profound changes in the internal and external environment, major economies are incorporating the development of the digital economy into their top-level design. AI governance and the autonomy of cutting-edge technologies have become focal points of international competition, with the global digital economy landscape undergoing dynamic evolution and intense competition.

According to a recent report by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, as of September 2025, the number of global AI companies is expected to reach 37,664. Among these, U.S. companies account for 13,725, or 36.4% of the total; Chinese companies number 6,003, making up 15.9%; the UK, India, and Canada rank third to fifth.

The report cites Statista data predicting that the global AI market size will reach $254.5 billion by 2025, a 36.1% increase from $186.9 billion in 2024, with this upward trend expected to continue at least until 2031.

In February, the global AI sector saw a new wave of intensive technology releases and application advancements. Chinese AI companies performed impressively, launching several cutting-edge models, including ByteDance’s video generation model Seedance 2.0, which quickly garnered attention. The Xinhua News Agency reported that in February, U.S. AI companies also released multiple advanced models, while governments and enterprises in various countries continued to increase their investments in AI-related infrastructure.

The report states that the largest markets for AI are the U.S. (approximately 18.5% of the global market), China (10.6%), the UK (6%), Germany (5.4%), and Japan (4.1%). According to Statista’s predictions, the AI market size is expected to exceed $1 trillion between 2029 and 2030.

Growth in AI Financing

Data from the National Taxation Administration shows that from January 1 to March 25 of this year, driven by demand for AI and computing power centers, the revenue from integrated circuit design and manufacturing increased by 48.9% and 40.7% year-on-year, respectively.

In terms of subfields, the report anticipates that the AI robotics and natural language processing markets will grow the fastest, with annual growth rates exceeding 40%. The number of AI unicorns has significantly increased, with 286 globally by September 2025, primarily distributed in business intelligence (60 companies) and large models (55 companies). Additionally, several unicorns have emerged in sectors such as healthcare, fintech, AI chips, and autonomous driving.

The report indicates that global AI financing amounted to $98.3 billion in the first three quarters of 2025, with healthcare, finance, and transportation being the most attractive sectors for investors. The funding for large models continues to rise, with its share of AI financing increasing from 7% in 2022 to 43% in 2025. The financing amount for large models reached $42.3 billion in the first three quarters of 2025, a year-on-year increase of 113%.

Infrastructure Development

Correspondingly, there is a high-quality coverage of digital infrastructure. The global computing power infrastructure is entering a new stage of intelligent development. On one hand, the number of global data centers is recovering. The report cites Gartner data indicating that the number of global data centers, which began to decline in 2019, is expected to rebound to 421,000 by 2025, a 0.1% increase from the previous year; from 2025 to 2029, the annual growth rate is expected to further expand to 4.6%, bringing the total to 448,000 data centers. On the other hand, large data centers are developing rapidly. By 2025, the number of large data centers with over 500 servers is expected to exceed 2,000, reaching 2,880 by 2029, with a compound annual growth rate of 8.1% from 2024 to 2029, significantly higher than the overall growth rate of data centers.

“The construction of AI computing power infrastructure is entering the fast lane,” the report states. On one hand, there is a global surge in investment in intelligent computing infrastructure; on the other hand, intelligent computing facilities are accelerating the release of value across various industries.

However, the report also warns that the weakening momentum of global economic growth and the resulting soft total demand are directly affecting the digital sector, putting pressure on both the consumer and enterprise sides. Slowing revenue growth has led to a shift in digital budgets from “strategic investment” to “operational optimization”; fiscal constraints are prompting public digital investments to focus on basic services and efficiency improvements, leading to a more rational approach to digital consumption and investment.

“Currently, the global economy is in a complex cycle characterized by weak growth and high uncertainty, with developed economies and emerging markets facing ’low growth and high inflation’ pressures. Traditional economic growth models, such as relying on factor inputs, industrial expansion, and external demand growth, are clearly failing,” the report states. This macroeconomic context has not changed the technological attributes of the digital economy but has significantly altered market expectations, capital allocation, corporate behavior, and public policy priorities, shifting the industry development logic from scale-first to prioritizing efficiency and sustainability.