25 Top AI Startups

The artificial intelligence market is seeing enormous excitement and interest – and investment. Crunchbase, which follows the business of technology companies, puts the total amount of venture investment in AI in 2017 at just under $5 billion in approximately 750 companies, well up from the $3.3 billion in 450 companies in 2016. While there is a healthy market for AI hardware, mostly silicon companies, the real action is in AI software. There's more than we could hope to list, or for you to read without your eyes glazing over. For our methodology for picking these top AI startups, focused on three key criteria: 1) dominant players, 2) companies shipping product or close to it, and/or 3) those that have raised significant venture money. These AI startups cover a wide swath of markets, industries, and functions.