America’s Most Leading Companies in AI – The 2021 Updated List

The COVID19 pandemic affected industries across the world. In the US, the leading companies in AI were still able to secure strong funding in 2020 and 2021. The country’s AI industry is advancing at an intense pace. This list features the most exciting American AI companies in 2021. Which AI companies are the best-funded? Which ones are pioneering key innovations? Let’s explore the complete list.

AI Companies – The Kings of Funding

Although funding doesn’t always guarantee success for companies, especially in the tech sector, healthy valuations are good signs of progress. Here are the most well-funded AI startups in the US in 2021 –

• Databricks:With over $1.9 billion in equity funding, California’s Databricks is top of this list. This advanced data analytics firm is valued at over $28 billion.
• Dataminr:Dataminr has successfully gone through several funding campaigns. It provides solutions for PR firms, news agencies, corporate security firms, etc., across seven countries. It recently secured $475 million in funding at a $4.1 billion valuation.
• Tempus:This AI-powered cancer treatment startup recently raised $200 million. Google was one of the notable investors. Currently, this Chicago-based medical AI firm is valued at $8.1 billion.
• Olive:Another AI-based health tech company received $400 million in seed funding in 2021. Olive is rapidly producing AI products that empower healthcare sector professionals.

Key Acquisitions in US AI Sector in 2021

• Qualtrics acquired Clarabridge
• Clarabridge, the industry leader in omnichannel NLP and analytics, was purchased by Qualtrics, a leading CX software company.
• Microsoft purchased Suplari, the leading provider of AI-powered business insights.
• Google acquired Provino Tech, the top creator of Network-on-Chip (NoC) systems for ML machines.
• Panasonic completed its acquisition of Blue Yonder, a company that focuses on combining AI, IoT, and ML solutions.

Here’s a list of America’s leading companies in AI that are pioneering key areas of research –

AUTOMOTIVE Sector

Drive.ai

• Specializations: Autonomous, self-driving vehicles, deep learning algorithms, and robotics.
• Location: Silicon Valley, Mountain View, California
• Owned By: Apple Inc. (since 2019)

Capabilities: Founded in 2015, Drive.ai creates AI software for self-driving vehicles. These software tools use using deep learning and aim to transform the transport industry. Drive.ai is currently overseeing Apple’s automotive project.

AEye

• Specializations: Computer vision, robotics, self-driving vehicles,
• Location: Pleasanton, California
• Type: Publicly traded

Capabilities: Founded in 2013, AEye is one of the leading developers of hardware and software tools with advanced vision capabilities. It’s also the pioneer of iDAR – a technology that gives autonomous vehicles intelligent sensing capabilities.

The company uses LiDAR scanners and iDAR software to give autonomous vehicles vast amounts of real-time information. AEye is in a prime position to transform the automotive industry into the ‘autonomous’ industry.

Here are some other American AI companies that are also doing great work in the automotive AI sector – DeepMap, DeepScale, and Iris Automation.

CYBERSECURITY SECTOR

PerimeterX

• Specializations: Network security, SaaS security, mobile app security, data migration
• Location: San Mateo, California
• Type: Private

Capabilities: In the past six years, PerimeterX’s behavior-based AI and ML software tools have been able to detect and block highly sophisticated bot attacks. More impressively, the software blocks hack attempts in real-time with ever-improving degrees of accuracy.

Founded in 2014, PerimeterX is currently the leading driver of using AI to identify/mimic human actions. This company is a leading innovator in predictive security applications.

Cyclance

• Specializations: Math, cybersecurity
• Location: Irvine, California
• Owned By: Blackberry Inc.

Capabilities: Cylance provides advanced anti-virus and anti-malware software with AI capabilities. It integrates sophisticated ML algorithms to perform predictive blocking against cyberattacks. Unlike most cybersecurity software, Cyclance’s AI-powered tools can swiftly and accurately identify and block cyberattacks in real-time.

Other notable mentions – Area 1 Security, Shape Security, and Blue Hexagon.

DATA PROCESSING 

Dataiku

• Specializations: Data migration, ERP, AI, ML.
• Location: New York, New York
• Type: Private

Capabilities: Founded in 2013, Dataiku is one of the industry leaders in creating data-powered companies. The company helps several firms of all sizes integrate AI-powered data analytics, enterprise AI applications, etc. Unilever, GE, Comcast, and various other companies that collect vast amounts of data, use Dataiku’s solutions to obtain key business insights.

Trifacta

• Specializations: Data management, data segmentation
• Location: San Francisco, California
• Type: Private

Capabilities: Trifacta allows companies to automate their data preparation workflows at faster speeds and at greater scales. Trifacta users can easily assess data quality and use intelligent suggestions from the software.

With Trifacta’s revolutionary UX and architecture, data management becomes easier for employees. The company’s also a pioneer in scalable data management – the process of collecting, segmenting, and processing data faster than ever.

Other notable companies in this sector – AI.Reverie, Orbital Insight, and Element AI.

Healthcare, robotics, retail, and telecommunications – these are some other AI sectors that are currently booming. According to a 2021 Accenture report, 84% of business executives believe they’ll need AI assistance to achieve their commercial objectives. Thankfully, these execs can turn to these leading companies in AI for support and guidance!