This year is undoubtedly a year of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the technology industry.

Generative AI is a technology that generates various types of content, including text, images, audio, and code, from received input data. Among these technologies, ChatGPT is the most widely used, and it quickly gained popularity in November 2022.

In this rapidly expanding field, it is evident that several industry giants are vying for the top position.

Here are the top 10 largest generative AI companies globally, ranked by market value as of December 11th. To qualify for this list, companies need to be creating generative AI software or providing essential components for its development.

Top 10 Largest Generative AI Companies (and their business descriptions)

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), $148.51 billion, United States

IBM is a respected veteran in the technology industry, founded in 1911. They went through some challenging years in the 1990s but have since recovered and capitalized on the growing demand for AI. Currently, Meta and IBM are leading a collaboration of over 50 companies and organizations to create an open-source AI industry consortium. Affectionately known as "Big Blue," IBM also announced plans to invest $500 million in generative AI startups targeting business customers.

Intuit, $164.01 billion, United States

Financial technology innovator Intuit has been using machine learning and AI systems to enhance its popular products such as QuickBooks, TurboTax, and MailChimp. In the generative AI field, this California-based company launched a customer chatbot called Intuit Assist earlier this year and introduced GenOS, an operating system that helps Intuit's tech experts "design, build, and deploy breakthrough generative AI experiences through Intuit Assist."

Alibaba Group, $181.91 billion, China

As one of China's largest companies, Alibaba is the only non-U.S. company on this list. China saw a surge in AI-related patent applications in October, with over 40% of global AI patent applications filed within China.

As China's Amazon and eBay, Alibaba has invested heavily in AI through its cloud computing services, e-commerce activities, and its financial services subsidiary, Ant Group.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), $215.1 billion, United States

AMD is a significant player in the semiconductor industry. Their central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) enable them to compete with larger rivals like Nvidia. They are the ones selling picks and shovels during the gold rush. They provide advanced AI chips for generative AI applications. The company recently announced its new MI300X chip, which has been committed for use by Microsoft and Meta.

Adobe, $282.86 billion, United States

Adobe is primarily known for its software products such as Photoshop, InDesign, and Premiere Pro. It is another Silicon Valley company striving to dominate the generative AI field. Adobe unveiled Firefly Image 2 in October, a significant upgrade to its existing AI-driven image generation tool. The improved model offers higher-quality output through enhanced model architecture, training algorithms, and image generation capabilities. Adobe has introduced many more generative AI features on its Adobe Sensei platform.

Meta Platforms, $823.94 billion, United States

Meta's products serve billions of people worldwide due to the widespread use of its core platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, like other tech giants, is now venturing into new horizons and making strides in the generative AI field. From a chatbot named Llama to AI image generators, the world's leading social media company is heavily investing in this area.

NVIDIA, $1.13 trillion, United States

Like AMD, Nvidia is a provider of key components needed for generative AI software. This chip manufacturer has performed exceptionally well this year, tripling its value and surpassing other companies in the S&P 500 index.

Amazon, $1.50 trillion, United States

Jeff Bezos wants more. Not content with his e-commerce empire, leading cloud computing services through AWS (Amazon Web Services), and digital media branch, the CEO of Amazon has set his sights on AI. The company has launched two large language models (LLMs) on AWS and recently announced an enterprise chatbot called 'Q'.

The company has also made significant investments in Anthropic, a competitor to OpenAI. It has invested $4 billion in this U.S. startup founded by former OpenAI executives, the team behind ChatGPT.

Alphabet, $1.66 trillion, United States

Alphabet is the parent company of Google and owns one of the most famous chatbots in the generative AI field. Bard may be second only to ChatGPT in terms of popularity and recently received an upgrade to its Gemini model. Alphabet's work doesn't stop there. Most generative AI startups are using Google Cloud to develop generative AI applications, allowing the company to challenge for the top position.

Microsoft, $2.74 trillion, United States

While OpenAI alone hasn't made it onto this list, their supporter Microsoft certainly has, with an estimated valuation of nearly $3 trillion. OpenAI is known for developing powerful AI models, and it continues to improve its GPT product, reportedly serving 180.5 million users and receiving nearly 2 billion visits per month. Microsoft and OpenAI are currently leading, but one thing is certain: the competition in the generative AI field will only intensify.