Artificial Intelligence Hub is Booming Now

According to a new assessment from the Booming Institution in Washington, D.C., Madison has increased its potential to become an artificial intelligence powerhouse over the previous decade due to research efforts. However, the paper proposes that Madison business leaders form more corporate research ties with UW-Madison to keep up with the country’s emerging AI industry. This would increase the usage of AI, foster entrepreneurship, and encourage the retention and attractiveness of local jobs.

Mark Muro, Booming senior fellow and report co-author said, “Significant money is flowing into the region to support almost exclusive contracts or research and development initiatives. That’s very important in itself. At the same time, because federal research done at UW-Madison is also building a talent base of skilled researchers and graduate students, there’s a pipeline for future AI expansion.”

Muro and his team assessed the research capacity and commercialization activities of 385 metropolitan regions in the United States for the report, using seven indicators. Each region was assigned to one of five categories based on the metrics. For example, according to the survey, the San Francisco Bay Area in California is in a “superstar” league of its own, scoring highly in every category. This is partly due to the Bay Area’s reliance on public and private investment and the presence of top AI research colleges such as Stanford and the University of California-Berkeley and tech titans such as Facebook and Google.

In addition, 13 metro areas were classified as “early adopters” since they exhibited “above-average interest” in AI activities. Muro claims that the regions have significant research facilities. However, he added, they’ve also successfully built and launched commercial products based on the findings. Hosting giants like Amazon, Oracle, and IBM also support those communities.