Boulder emerging as 'early adopter' for artificial intelligence industry
By Staff
Denver Business Journal
Boulder is No. 9 in a recent report that maps the geography of America's artificial intelligence industry and finds "early adopter" cities that have relatively high levels of activity in the sector.
Oracle, Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN), Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and voice assistant software Soundhound were the top four Boulder-area employers in the sector, the Brookings Institution report says.
Additionally, Boulder stood out among other "early adopter" metros due to its smaller population, along with four other "smaller metro areas that have substantial AI activities relative to their size," that include Lincoln, Nebraska; Santa Cruz and Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Larger tech hubs listed include Austin, Boston, Los Angeles and New York City.
In addition to the major players that have roots in the city, Boulder has also developed a growing artificial intelligence reputation thanks to startups like Sphero, Stream, Misty Robotics and more.
University of Colorado: Boulder is also contributing to the local AI scene, as a $20 research collaboration in 2020 sought to introduce AI capabilities into the classroom. The U.S. National Science Foundation AI Institute for Student-AI Teaming program aimed to "explore the role that artificial intelligence may play in the future of education and workforce development," according to a press release. In particular, it was meant to provide new learning opportunities for students from historically underrepresented populations in Colorado, and elsewhere.
As part of the program, researchers worked with Denver Public Schools to develop and test the new technologies.
The Brookings Institution report defined "early adopter" cities as showing "above-average involvement" in artificial intelligence activities. Early adopter cities were characterized in the report as having "strong research institutions and have been successful in developing and deploying commercial applications from research and translating them into high-value growth companies."
A total of 13 early adopter cities were listed in the report:
- Austin, Texas
- Boston
- Los Angeles
- New York City
- Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina
- San Diego
- Seattle
- Washington, D.C.
- Boulder, Colorado
- Lincoln, Nebraska
- Santa Cruz-Watsonville, California
- Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California
- Santa Fe, New Mexico
View the full report, which was released in September, at this link.
The Brookings Institution's report used cluster analysis to track keywords in federal R&D grants to universities on AI projects, federal AI R&D contract spending to private firms, academic papers delivered at AI conferences, AI-related patents by location of assignees, companies providing AI solutions and job postings that require AI skills.