The growth of artificial intelligence (AI) has led to the industrial revolution 4.0 and the amount of data that is being generated today has turned them into valuable assets. Due to this reason, every organisation irrespective of differences in industries such as finance, healthcare, defence, education and many more have jumped into a cauldron full of AI elements to reap the maximum benefit possible. 

To support the industries, it is crucial for cities to come up with better infrastructure and education programmes, research labs and training facilities to boost the AI culture. Although most of the cities are yet to cultivate the culture, a number of cities around the world are already being recognised as tech-hubs and are in the race to undergo the next wave of AI disruption.

In this article, we will highlight some of the top cities around the world who are promoting AI in the best possible way. Note that our article is in no particular order, and the article is based on how the cities are currently shaped. 

Singapore

When it comes to vision, activation ability and asset base- Singapore stands high on the chart with the backing of a government that has launched a scheme by the name ‘AI Singapore.’ The idea behind the scheme is to successfully create an AI ecosystem across the country through industries and generations. That’s not all as the Singapore government is one of the few who have successfully implemented an AI governance framework to deal with an ethical enigma. Recently, Huawei has established a 5-G-powered AI lab in Singapore and positioned it as a public facility. 

Toronto

There’s not an inch of the doubt when one says that most of the researchers in the field of AI comes from Canada or in particular, Toronto. The city consists of prestigious Vector Institute, which is run by one of the pioneers in the field of AI, Geoffrey Hinton and is dedicated for the advancement of AI in Toronto. Recently, Amazon established an office with a space of 11,300 square ft. to accommodate 600 job vacancies in the field of cloud computing and engineering.

San Francisco

Known as the Silicon Valley, San Francisco is recognised as the hub of innovation in the technology space. With some of the biggest names in the tech domain operating from San Francisco, the city striding forward with more and more funding from different organisations to boost innovation. Along with companies, the University of Stanford and UC Berkeley also plays an important role by contributing to the growth of tech culture among young minds.

Beijing

China’s capital Beijing has recently laid out a three-step program to use AI from military to smart cities. The Asian giant is aiming to become a world leader in AI by the year 2030, and the government aims to make the Chinese AI industry worth $150 million in the decade to come. China is also home to some of the biggest names like Alibaba and Baidu, who are focusing highly to develop different AI capabilities. Baidu, for example, consist of a research lab in Silicon Valley is trying hard to develop driverless cars. Not to mention, Tsinghua University Institute for Artificial Intelligence in China ranks at number one as per CSRankings.

Bengaluru

Bengaluru is known as the Silicon Valley of India, and the city rightly deserves so. The city at present houses 7,700 registered startups and 1200 tech startups. In 2017, the city witnessed a 50 per cent growth in advanced technology startups. Furthermore, the city alone generated 40,000 jobs in the technology space and is booming every single day. Last but not least, Bengaluru consists of a number of AI research centres by Google, Bosch, Samsung, PayPal and Accenture. 

Tokyo

With a shrinking workforce and ageing population, Japan is putting a lot of emphasis on AI, Big Data and IoT. The government of Japan aims to make its AI market worth $209 billion by the end of 2020. Japan has also welcomed organisations from different nations to invest in the AI space and has collaborated with a number of foreign startups and SMEs. In 2019, the University of Tokyo and SoftBank Corp signed an agreement to establish a new AI research institute. Furthermore, the AI lab present at the University of Tsukuba has laid the foundation for AI in the country. 

Seoul

The capital of South Korea is one of the most advanced cities in terms of technology, which allows startups to brew at a steady pace. The government has released an AI strategy and aims to become a top-four contender by 2022. The country is also home to some of the big sharks in the world of technology such as Samsung, LG and Hyundai who are hungry to have a share from the AI industry. Due to shortage of AI engineers in the country, South Korea aims to build six AI schools and educate more than 5000 Korean engineers by the end of 2020. With a number of tech universities in the country, the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology is considered as one of the finest. 

Vancouver

Vancouver has a strong AI ecosystem with more than 100 companies developing AI services and products. Recently, Amazon has announced to open new offices in the area with a plan to hire close to 3,000 employees from the field of AI and other related streams. The region also consists of more than 12,000 students who are enrolled in AI and data-related programs. Amongst a number of universities, the University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University are considered the best.