The New Generative Economy of AI

Hey Everyone,

Is Generative AI about to build several new kinds of economic drivers?

Is Generative AI going to lead to a new economy? This is one of the biggest questions we’ve had since late 2022. IDC, the market-forecasting giant, projects that AI — including but not limited to generative AI — will boost the global economy by $4.9 trillion in 2030, up from just below $1.2 trillion this year.

Ollie is based in Bangkok Thailand and I am currently in Taiwan. No matter where you live there is a sense that the world is changing and AI may be accelerating the pace of change.

Generative AI is poised to significantly impact the global economy, potentially leading to what could be considered a 'new economy.' This article will focus on the landscape of AI unicorns poised to usher in a new economy on the back of new capabilities, an emerging agentic AI and text-to-action based economy.

Upgrade to Premium

(☝—💎For a limited time get a Yearly sub for just $5 a month✨— ☝).

Companies like Klarna have famously created more efficiency and that has led to layoffs due to their adoption of Gen AI. Klarna: AI lets us cut thousands of jobs - but pay more. So is Klarna an exception or the new rule? It might be too soon to say for sure.

Will the AI startups and tools of today lead to many more such case studies like Klarna in how companies adapt?

Ollie Forsyth is the founder of New Economies, a newsletter discovering and sharing the latest technology trends shaping our world. Previous editions include: The Ageing Population, The Workplace: AI Tools, AI Agents and, The Transition from Operators to Angel Investors.

I am obsessed with AI startups and thinking about them in terms of what they will accomplish in the years ahead. But who are they? Where do they come from? What is their trajectory?

What will their impact on the real world be? Will new kinds of AI reasoning reshape society? What will be the state of the new AI economy?

Venture capital investment in generative AI reached approximately $21.3 billion in 2023. The US and Canada accounted for nearly 45% of private equity-backed investments in 2023. Many pundits and AI evangelists say Generative AI is poised to usher in a new economy by significantly boosting productivity and economic growth.

The New Economies newsletter is really strong in AI coverage and so I asked Ollie Forsyth if we could share some of his work. With innovation advancing rapidly on a regular basis, you may not always know about the latest trends taking shape so he’s providing these to you for free. Read about.

• Who are the AI unicorn startups of this era?
• Data on funding, top colleges and locations of HQ operations
• Median valuations, top VCs and AI investors
• Access to Ollie’s list of Investors

By Ollie Forsyth - August, 2024.

In this edition, we discover the latest AI unicorns and the characteristics behind them. Additionally, we uncover and spotlight over 500 early-stage AI startups that should be on your radar.

Let’s get started!

Over the past year, AI has really hit its stride. What was once a buzzword is now a crucial part of business strategies across various industries. AI is not just another tech trend; it's transforming healthcare, finance, education, and shaping the future of work and daily life.

The Startup Landscape

The number of AI startups is surging as more founders seize one of the most promising opportunities of our time. If we look at the startups featured in our recent market maps covering AI Agents & Generative AI, most of them did not even exist a few years ago.

Explore the AI startup ecosystem

The Startup Fundraising Landscape (Q2 2024)

Funding to companies in AI more than doubled quarter over quarter to $24 billion — representing 30% of all dollars invested, the largest quarter for AI funding in recent years.

Five out of six billion-dollar funding rounds went to AI companies. Elon Musk’s xAI raised $6 billion, and AI infrastructure provider CoreWeave raised $1.1 billion. Automated driving company Wayve, data preparation company Scale AI and AI biotech company Xaira Therapeutics each raised billion-dollar rounds.

Aside from AI, global startup funding picked up in the second quarter, reaching $79 billion — rising 16% quarter over quarter and 12% from the $71 billion invested in Q2 2023. Mega-rounds — fundings $100 million and above — accounted for much of the increase this past quarter.

To get better visuals and read the entire post go here.

🔑 New Economies Most Popular Editions:

• AI Agents: The Ultimate Guide (30k reads within 48 hours)
• The Startup Tech Stack
• The Loneliness Landscape
• Read more about AI at the New Economies Newsletter