Could Raleigh one day become a hub for artificial intelligence? A new study says there's a strong chance.
The report out of the think tank Brookings Institution identifies the Raleigh metro as one of AI’s early adopters – and a sizable competitor as the industry matures.
Brookings researcher Mark Muro said the results of the report show potentially big opportunities for the Triangle. In addition to the region's ability to leverage federal research funding, the report called out the AI-related job listings in the region. Muro said his research found that job postings are an important measure of commercial activity “and Raleigh looks very strong.”
“In fact, it’s one of the few places that’s as strong for actual job creation and hiring as it is for federal research,” he said.
Numbers compiled by Brookings show one AI job posting for every 100 workers in the Raleigh metro. It shows nearly 54 AI patents per million workers. And in terms of AI-related R&D dollars, it finds the Raleigh metro sees more than $146 per worker.
While it pales in comparison to the biggest tech hubs – San Francisco, for example, sees more than $478 in AI-related R&D dollars per worker – it’s comparable on many fronts to the cities it competes with the most when it comes to tech firm relocations and expansions, particularly when it comes to AI job postings.
Austin, Texas, for example, sees 1.3 jobs per 100 workers, and Boston is at 1.5 jobs per 100 workers.
It remains to be seen how the pandemic may factor in to the Triangle's future as an AI cluster – but early signs point to continued strength, particularly when compared to California. Data on job postings amid the pandemic shows the number actually ticked down in the Bay Area, but up in the metros identified as early adopters – including Raleigh. Muro said that while it’s early, that could signal a “reorientation” away from Silicon Valley and toward places like Raleigh.
“It’s not a full trend yet, but it looks like there has been some uptick in places like Raleigh,” he said. “Raleigh looks like a super competitive location compared to anybody in this field.”
Specifically, data compiled by Brookings shows more than 85,000 AI job postings from March of 2019 through April of 2020 in San Francisco Bay, and just more than 81,500 from March of 2020 through April of 2021. Early adopter cities, however, saw 188,800 postings and more than 216,000 postings during those time periods, respectively.
The report points to major Raleigh-area employers as leading the way, specifically IBM (NYSE: IBM), Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), Deloitte, Lenovo and Applied Research Associates.
The report recognizes eight large tech hubs: New York; Boston; Seattle; Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; San Diego; Austin; and Raleigh – and five smaller metro areas: Boulder, Colorado.; Lincoln, Nebraska.; Santa Cruz, California.; Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, California.; and Santa Fe, New Mexico. All are punching above their weight and, along with Silicon Valley and the Bay Area, are “anchor[ing] the entire nation’s emerging AI map by bringing substantial research activities and major commercial activity into close proximity.”