AI 50: America’s Most Promising Artificial Intelligence Companies

To cut through the spin, Forbes partnered with venture firms Sequoia Capital and Meritech Capital to create our second annual AI 50, a list of private, U.S.-based companies that are using artificial intelligence in meaningful business-oriented ways. To be included, companies had to be privately-held and focused on techniques like machine learning (where systems learn from data to improve on tasks), natural language processing (which enables programs to “understand” written or spoken language), or computer vision (which relates to how machines “see”). Private AI companies that were incubated at, largely funded or acquired by large tech, manufacturing or industrial firms–including some of the leading autonomous vehicle developers–were not eligible for consideration.

The list was compiled through a submission process open to any AI company in the U.S. The application asked companies to provide details on their technology, business model, customers and financials like funding, valuation and revenue history (companies had the option to submit information confidentially, to encourage greater transparency). In total, Forbes received about 400 entries. From there, our VC partners applied an algorithm to identify the 100 with the highest quantitative scores and then a panel of eight expert AI judges identified the 50 most compelling companies.

“It’s not about creating some magic algorithms,” says judge Anima Anandkumar, a Caltech professor and Nvidia’s director of machine-learning research. “Focus on the problem and impact side.”

Among the notable trends this year: Augmented intelligence, which seeks to help humans do their jobs better and not replace them, is on the rise as the excitement over full automation loses some steam. Self-driving tech startups remain hot; the seven autonomous vehicle companies on this year’s list have raised over $3 billion in total venture capital. Another area to watch: AI applications to discover drugs or diagnose diseases faster. Across the board, AI 50 founders agree that Covid-19 has permanently accelerated or altered the spread of AI.

In terms of valuation, at least 10 of the AI 50 are valued at $100 million or less, while 13 are unicorns valued at $1 billion or more. Silicon Valley remains the hub for AI startups, with 34 of 50 honorees coming from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Abnormal Security
Cybersecurity; Scans inboxes for malicious emails.

AISERA
Workflow Software; Automates IT, sales and customer-service tasks.

AMP Robotics
Environmental Engineering; Makes robots that identify and sort recyclables.

Anduril Industries
Defense; Builds surveillance systems for national-security purposes.

Anyscale
Software Development; Helps software developers make machine-learning apps.

ASAPP
Customer Service; Assists customer-service agents in real time. Read more here.

Atomwise
Health care; Discovers drugs with medical potential.

Aurora
Automotive; Makes software for self-driving cars.

Biofourmis
Health care; Monitors patients’ health using wearables.

Blue Hexagon
Cybersecurity ;Detects network or cloud cyberattacks.

Cerebras Systems
Hardware; Builds computing chips for AI use.

Cresta
Customer Service; Assists customer-service agents in real time.

Dataiku
Software Development; Develops tools for enterprises to build AI apps.

DataRobot
Software Development; Makes software for companies to develop AI models.

DeepMap
Automotive; Produces 3D maps for self-driving vehicles.

Domino Data Lab
Software Development; Provides tools for data scientists.

Doxel
Productivity Software; Detects and tracks construction-project problems.

Drift
Productivity Software; Builds chatbots to automate customer interactions. Read more here.

Drishti
Productivity Software; Creates data sets by digitizing human actions in factories.

Embark Trucks
Automotive; Creates software for self-driving trucks.

ExtraHop
Cybersecurity; Detects cloud cybersecurity threats.

Fiddler Labs
Software Development; Helps companies build and monitor AI apps.

Genesis Therapeutics
Health care; Discovers drugs with medical potential.

Ghost
Automotive; Puts self-driving tech into conventional cars.

Gong
Productivity Software; Analyzes sales conversations.

Hivemapper
Database Software; Turns video footage into 3D maps.

Icertis
Productivity Software; Analyzes businesses’ contract risks.

Karius
Health care; Looks for pathogens in blood tests.

Krisp Technologies
Communication Software; Removes background noise from calls.

Lemonade
Financial Services; Sells insurance using bots.

Lilt
Productivity Software; Assists human language translators.

Moveworks
Productivity Software; Resolves IT tickets autonomously.

Nuro
Automotive; Produces self-driving delivery robots. Read more here.

Observe.AI
Customer Service; Analyzes customer-service calls.

Pony.ai
Automotive; Makes software for self-driving cars.

Recursion
Health care; Discovers potential drugs for rare diseases.

SafeGraph
Database Software; Creates data sets by tracking commercial spaces.

Scale AI
Software Development; Helps engineers speed up AI development.

Shield AI
Defense; Makes mapping drones for national security. Read more here.

SigOpt
Software Development; Develops software for enterprises to build AI models.

Synack
Cybersecurity; Spots cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Textio
Productivity Software; Gives suggestions on how to improve writing.

TuSimple
Automotive; Builds self-driving trucks.

twoXAR
Health care; Discovers drugs with medical potential.

UiPath
Workflow Software; Creates bots that carry out repetitive processes.

Unity Technologies
Software Development; Provides software for app or game development.

Upstart
Financial Services; Partners with banks to price loans.

Vise
Financial Services; Offers financial planning and management.

Viz.ai
Health care; Analyzes stroke risk from brain images.

Zebrium
Productivity Software; Detects and resolves software problems.