Venture capital funding in AI doubles to US$12 billion

Artificial intelligence, particularly its applications in health, finance and the automotive sector, attracted US$12 billion of investment from venture capitalists globally last year, double the volume in 2016, according to a report by KPMG. AI pushed total venture capital (VC) investment in China to a record high of US$40 billion in 2017, up 15 per cent from the previous year. China accounted for five of the world's 10 biggest venture capital investments in the fourth quarter, the data released on Thursday shows. And more of the companies receiving the financing are electing to plough that money into AI development. Didi-Chuxing, China's top ride-hailing company, received US$4 billion in a round of fundraising led by Softbank in December, in part to enhance their AI capabilities. That was the largest venture capital investment globally in the fourth quarter.