The World’s Most AI-Driven Cities 

Introduction

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming a driving force around the world. From innovative financial technology to improved healthcare initiatives, the ever-changing landscape means it’s more important than ever to understand how it’s shaping our society. In light of this, Business Name Generator has conducted research to discover which global cities are leading the way for AI market development. 

By analyzing 50 cities around the world, looking at metrics including the number of AI events and total AI venture capital investment, we’ve revealed the top most AI-driven cities. We’ve also taken a look at which cities are a global hub for both AI education and careers, for anyone eager to break into this rapidly developing field.

Most AI-Driven City

London leads the way as the world’s most AI-driven city, followed by New York City and Singapore

London is the most AI-driven city based on all metrics analyzed, boasting 2,645 AI events for those looking to learn more about the technology and a healthy investment total of $25,029,000 to date. London residents are searching for AI-related terms an average of 13,630 times per month (beaten only by Tokyo’s 28,230 monthly searches). Surprisingly, the city only has 339 job opportunities in AI available – 1,173 less than New York City. 

New York City places second, with fewer AI events (1,082), but a very impressive AI venture capital investment of $361,080,000. The Big Apple is followed by Singapore in third; this southeast Asian city invests less money in AI ($7,265,000), but still sees nearly 140,000 searches per year for AI-related terms. 

Least AI-driven City

Tallinn, Santiago, and Zurich are the world’s least AI-driven cities

While cities like London and New York are openly embracing everything AI has to offer, other cities around the world seem less invested in the world of artificial intelligence. 

According to our research, Estonia’s capital Tallinn is the least AI-driven city in the world. The northern European city currently has zero AI jobs available and only 39 AI events, in addition to a very low AI venture capital investment of just $456,000. Residents also don’t seem overly interested in AI, as Tallinn records one of the lowest monthly search volumes for AI-related information (690). 

Santiago and Zurich rank as the second and third least AI-driven cities on our list – although these cities do invest more money in AI than Tallinn, with total venture capital investment standing at $1,239,000 and $3,734,000 respectively. 

It’s not altogether surprising that cities like Tallinn and Santiago are slower to implement AI initiatives. These cities are much smaller and less financially developed than the likes of London and New York, which are global hubs at the forefront of tech development. 

As AI continues to become more popular and accessible, we can expect to see these smaller cities start to catch up. 

Global Hubs for AI

US cities lead the way as global hubs for AI career development 

As well as exploring which cities are the most driven by AI overall, we’ve also revealed where the best AI career prospects lie. By investigating job opportunities and average salaries, we’ve identified the top five global hubs for AI careers.

According to our analysis, cities in the US offer the most opportunities globally for professionals in the AI field. Washington D.C. took the top spot, with New York, Boston, and San Francisco also positioning in the top five.

Washington D.C. offers the strongest AI job market; with 1,881 job opportunities available and an average salary of $109,668, making the US capital the best place to be for professionals looking to drive AI advancement. This is followed by New York City and Singapore, which both offer slightly fewer job opportunities but higher average salaries for AI specialists. 

Cities for AI Education

London and Manchester offer the best AI education opportunities for students 

Education opportunities are a crucial factor for students wanting to break into the AI industry. We’ve identified the locations fulfilling the ever-growing demand for AI by revealing which cities offer the highest number of AI-related degrees and courses. 

London once again leads the way, offering a total of 29 AI-specific courses at university level, as well as 333 in Computer Science and IT. In second place is fellow UK city Manchester, with 11 courses in AI and 146 in Computer Science; meanwhile, Jakarta in Indonesia comes in third with 9 AI courses available. 

The number of AI-specific courses is low across the board, highlighting a gap in technology education around the world. 

As the realm of AI continues to expand, it will be interesting to see how these cities compete in the not-so-distant future. 

Methodology and Sources

• Seedlist – Top 50 cities for AI
• Average salary for AI jobs (by city) – Searched for “AI Engineer” + city name
• Number of AI job opportunities (by city) 
• Number of AI / Computer and IT courses (by city) 
• Number of AI initiatives (by city)
• Number of AI events (by city)
• Google search volume (by city) – Used Google Keyword Planner to find Google search volume for “AI courses”, “AI jobs”, “AI companies”, “AI”, “artificial intelligence”, “AI technology”
• AI investment (by country)
• Currency conversion (converted 11/01/2023)