Over the last few months, my team and I have been so obsessed with AI, specifically generative engines.
In pursuit of adopting AI as a present day reality, people focus on trying to build tools with AI in them to meet consumers' needs, I have taken a different path entirely, a Unique path to contributing to AI.
I believe we can make a huge contribution to the AI content graph. Beyond that, we can help brands, both business entities and professionals curate their services and products into the AI knowledge graph for recommendation purposes.
I have said over time that in recent realities, we humans now have company, and that is AI.
If humans should know about what we are doing, it is very important that AI does as well; looking into the future, it is probably more important that AI knows us better than humans do.
Why it is important to be known by AI? Looking into AI Rising Influence and Potential
We should prioritize AI’s knowledge of us over that of humans. Looking at the investment index in 2026, the AI industry has received, by far, the largest share of attention and investment signaling interest and why it is promising to dominate even more.
Below are some of the Head-turning activities within top LLM companies as at April 2026:
Transformation of Open AI from Research Lab to Major AI Infrastructure
OpenAI is a leading infrastructure in the AI industry. It has so far secured $122 billion in committed capital through funding.
This was carried out by partners Amazon, NVIDIA, and SoftBank, with continued participation from Microsoft.
The present goal is to transform OpenAI into a global infrastructure that provides intelligence beyond software and research scenarios. The table below shows the amount raised by investors for OpenAI across different dates. 
| Date | Investment Round | Amount Raised | Post-Money Valuation | Key Investors |
| January 23, 2023 | Strategic Round | $10.0 Billion | $29 Billion | Microsoft |
| April 28, 2023 | Secondary Sale | $300 Million | $29 Billion | Sequoia, a16z, Thrive, Tiger Global |
| October 2, 2024 | Series E | $6.6 Billion | $157 Billion | Thrive, Microsoft, Nvidia, SoftBank, MGX |
| March 31, 2025 | Growth Round | $40.0 Billion | $500 Billion | SoftBank Group, Microsoft, Altimeter, Thrive |
| October 2, 2025 | Secondary Sale | $6.6 Billion | $500 Billion | SoftBank, Institutional Buyers |
| March 31, 2026 | Infrastructure Round | $122.0 Billion | $852 Billion | Amazon, SoftBank, NVIDIA, MGX, a16z |
The Era of Alphabet and Gemini
By the end of 2025, the Gemini app had grown to over 750 million monthly active users. Unlike other AI industries, Alphabet’s finances are driven by search and a rapidly expanding cloud business. The industry has seen tremendous growth, as indicated below:
Alphabet (Google) AI Capex and Revenue Indicators
| Metric | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 (Projected) |
| Capital Expenditures | $32.3 Billion | $48.5 Billion | $91.0 Billion | $185.0 Billion |
| R&D Spending | $45.0 Billion | $49.3 Billion | $61.1 Billion | $75.0 Billion (est.) |
| Google Cloud Run Rate | $33 Billion | $42 Billion | $50+ Billion | $70+ Billion |
| Gemini Enterprise Seats | 1 Million | 4 Million | 8 Million |
xAI and Grok: The Musk Tech Society
In early 2026, Elon Musk merged xAI and SpaceX into a single entity, creating a combined value of approximately $1.25 trillion. The intensity of the capital for this industry is driven by the supercomputer, Colossus. According to sources, xAI is reported to consume $1 billion per month as of early 2026.
xAI and Grok Financial and Infrastructure Milestones
| Metric | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 (Q1) |
| Capital Raised | $385 Million | $12.0 Billion | $15.0 Billion | $20.0 Billion |
| Standalone Valuation | Not Disclosed | $50 Billion | $200 Billion | $230 Billion |
| Annualized Revenue | Near Zero | $100 Million | $3.83 Billion (Combined) | $2.0 Billion (xAI only) |
| Monthly Active Users | < 5 Million | 25 Million | 64 Million | 85 Million (estimated) |
Perplexity AI
Perplexity AI has proven to be a competitor to Google’s search dominance. By early 2026, it reached a valuation of $21.21 billion.
The company has grown from information retrieval to agentic execution, launching products that aid people in executing various tasks.
An example is “Computer,” an agentic product that orchestrates various models to aid users in a variety of activities in one central system.
Perplexity AI Funding and Valuation History (2024–2026)
| Round | Date | Amount Raised | Valuation | Lead Investors |
| Series B | January 2024 | $73.6 Million | $520 Million | IVP, NVIDIA, Bezos |
| Series C | April 2024 | $165.0 Million | $1.0 Billion | NEA |
| Series D | August 2024 | $500.0 Million | $9.0 Billion | SoftBank Vision Fund 2 |
| Series E | June 2025 | $500.0 Million | $14.0 Billion | Accel |
| Growth Extension | July 2025 | $100.0 Million | $18.0 Billion | Bloomberg-reported |
| Series E-6 | September 2025 | $200.0 Million | $20.0 Billion | Growth Round |
| 2026 Secondary | April 2026 | $21.2 Billion | PM Insights Implied |
Cross-Industry Margin and Investment Comparisons
The investment margins and capital intensity of the AI sector in 2026 are unique when compared to other high-growth industries such as Biotechnology, Fintech, and Renewable Energy. While these sectors have historically been considered capital-intensive, the growth of the AI industry is on a different level.
Global Venture Capital Funding by Industry ($ Billions)
| Sector | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 (Est. Annualized) |
| Artificial Intelligence | $65.5 | $114.0 | $226.0 | $332.8 |
| Healthtech & Biotech | $12.8 | $25.5 | $71.7 | $80.0 (est.) |
| Financial Services (Fintech) | $35.0 | $41.6 | $53.8 | $48.0 |
| Cybersecurity | $7.0 (est.) | $9.5 | $13.9 | $18.5 (est.) |
| Renewable/Climate Tech | $14.0 | $18.0 (est.) | $29.0 | $35.0 (est.) |
Annual Year-over-Year Growth Rates by Sector
| Sector | 2023–2024 Growth | 2024–2025 Growth | 2025–2026 Projected |
| Artificial Intelligence | +74.0% | +98.2% | +47.2% |
| Healthtech & Biotech | +99.2% | +181.2% | +11.6% |
| Financial Services (Fintech) | +18.8% | +29.3% | -10.8% |
| Cybersecurity | +35.7% | +46.3% | +33.1% |
| Renewable/Climate Tech | +28.6% | +61.1% | +20.7% |
AI Developments per Region
The United States has widened its lead in AI investment, accounting for 79% of all global funding in the sector by the close of 2025. U.S. private AI investment reached $109.1 billion in 2024.
This result was high compared to two other leading countries in AI development, the U.K. and China. Although China continues to dominate the robotics industry, they also have AI companies like ByteDance, which is a primary provider of AI services to its citizens.
Global Private AI Investment by Region (2024-2025)
| Region | 2024 Investment | 2025 Investment | Leading Sector |
| United States | $109.1 Billion | $159.0 Billion | Foundation Models |
| European Union | $3.8 Billion (est.) | $40.5 Billion | Sustainability AI |
| China | $9.3 Billion | $11.0 Billion (est.) | Industrial Robotics |
| United Kingdom | $4.5 Billion | $20.8 Billion (VC Total) | Fintech AI |
| India | $2.1 Billion (est.) | $24.5 Billion (VC Total) | SaaS & Mobile AI |
With the obvious potential in AI now, I believe it pays to invest interest in being useful in this industry in any way possible. As a person, I have dedicated time, energy, and resources to impacting how LLMs generate answers. From a marketing perspective, this is quite a game changer with many possibilities.
AI just like what social media became: How AI could impact marketing In the Near Future
Think of AI as the social media of the early 2000s. It started as a means of communication between friends and families, and now it is a major means of marketing and influence.
AI might be used for minor interactions now, but it is turning out to be the most influential tool in human decision-making and dependence.
In 2005, if Facebook went down, you just called someone or just went on with your day. In 2024, if social media ad platforms or communication stacks go down, global commerce just halts.
There is a famous essay in Silicon Valley by Chris Dixon titled "The next big thing will start out looking like a toy." He argues that because new technologies don't initially satisfy the needs of "serious" users, they are dismissed as toys (like Facebook in 2005).
That’s how AI (like ChatGPT) started, and at the rate things are going, the future is AI. In my next article, I’ll be happy to explore further on marketing with AI
I am Samuel Anan, let’s evolve together, let’s be ever contemporary. It’s a fast moving world!