Israel Ranks Third in the World for Leading Companies in the Field of GenAI

27/06/2024

A new Israel Innovation Authroity study shows that 4% of companies operating globally in GenAI are Israeli, behind only USA and UK

During AI Week at the Yuval Ne’eman Workshop at Tel Aviv University, Dror Bin, CEO of the Israel Innovation Authority, presented today a series of international studies and new research conducted by the Authority. These studies show that Israel has successfully entered the Gen-AI world with 73 Israeli companies engaged in the field. The studies indicate that Israel ranks third globally in this sector.

Dror Bin emphasized the Israeli innovation ecosystem’s remarkable ability to adapt swiftly to global technological challenges, “At a time when Generative AI leads the forefront of innovation, we are witnessing impressive growth of Israeli companies in this field. According to the research, Israel is third in the world for active companies in the field of GenAI.”

He further noted that Israel’s unique advantage stems from a combination of deep technological expertise, proven research capability, and a profound understanding of global market needs. Israeli companies are at the forefront of developing advanced models, optimizing performance, and creating innovative applications in areas such as natural language processing, computer vision, and cognitive automation.

However, Bin also highlighted the challenges posed by intensifying global competition. He stressed the critical importance of continued investment in research infrastructure, human capital, and international collaborations. The Israel Innovation Authority is expanding support programs for AI companies, encouraging academia-industry collaborations, and attracting foreign investments in the field.

“Our goal is not only to maintain our status as a startup nation but to preserve Israel’s position as a global AI powerhouse,” Bin said. “This is a national mission that will require close cooperation between the government, industry, and academia. Through proper investment and strategic thinking, we can ensure that Israel continues to lead the next technological revolution.”

The international studies presented by Bin include reports from Tortoise, the AI Index Report 2024 – Stanford University, the QUID 2023 database, Europe and Israel’s Founder Factories GenAI Edition, the Dealroom 2004 database, and the IVC database.

A recent study based on PitchBook databases was presented for the first time at the conference. It examined three groups:

  • Companies producing foundation models – Open AI, Mistral AI, Anthropic PBC, AI21 Labs – with 18 companies globally, including one in Israel (third place in the world after USA and China, same as France, UK, Geramany, etc.).
  • Companies producing large and complex models for their specific uses – 1900 companies worldwide, 73 of which are Israeli, placing Israel third after the USA and the UK.
  • Companies using models of other companies in an API format – not analyzed.

Bin also addressed the challenges, stating, “Against the strengths we identify – the number of new companies established and the amount of money invested in AI companies in Israel over the last decade – it is clear to us that there is a stupendous race of investments in the field worldwide. We know very well that if we don’t run forward at the same pace, we will be left behind. We intend to invest around 600 million NIS from the national program budget of 1 billion NIS by the end of 2024, and we are progressing according to plan on all relevant fronts. I’m pleased to announce that in July, a call for proposals will be published for the establishment in Israel of a supercomputer for training large artificial intelligence models, for the benefit of the high-tech industry and academia.”

Recent international studies referred to in his remarks:

purple arrow Click to view the presentation

purple arrow Click for the full report