More than two years after the blockbuster launch of ChatGPT, artificial intelligence continues to be the white hot center of venture capital and the business world at large. Some of the buzziest startups have shifted focus from the AI model release horserace to building useful applications and products on top of existing models, automating scutwork across fields like engineering, healthcare, legal and sales. That’s evident in Forbes’ seventh annual AI 50 list, produced in partnership with Sequoia and Meritech Capital, which spotlights the most promising privately-held AI companies in the world.
Newcomers to the list include $2.5 billion-valued Anysphere (better known as Cursor), a three year-old AI startup that helps engineers write and edit code and has at least $100 million in annualized revenue; the $1 billion-valued AI language tutor app Speak, which is used by some 10 million people to learn English and Spanish; and Massachusetts-based unicorn OpenEvidence, which is building an AI-powered search platform that summarizes medical information for doctors.
