Metacosm Autonomous Driving Quantum Computing... The cutting-edge technology of the five giants of american technology is crazy to spend money

Author: Science and Technology Daily reporter Liu Xia

The tide of scientific and technological innovation is in the world

In a wave of technology competitions, the American alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta universe platform company (Meta) and Microsoft have become the well-known technology "Big Five". The pace of technological progress never stops, and these giants have no end to their pursuit of new technologies.

Big U.S. tech companies are spending money on research and development! The British "Economist" magazine pointed out in the report that the "Big Five" spent $149 billion on research and development in 2021, which is much higher than the R& D budget of the Pentagon in the United States. Analysts believe that about 5% to 20% of the huge R&D spending by these technology giants is spent on what we call "cutting-edge technologies" — artificial intelligence, metaversities, self-driving cars, healthcare, quantum computing and more. The giants want to "use market forces to win the next big win."

Artificial intelligence and cloud services

According to data provided by project proposals, the Big Five have acquired more than 110 companies over the past three years (excluding Microsoft's recent announcement of a $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard). There are more than 40 transactions with a total valuation of about $50 billion. A quarter of them focus on artificial intelligence or processing large data sets; A quarter focus on other cutting-edge technologies. In addition, more than half of Meta's 22 acquisitions since 2019 have been AI-related startups.

Cloud service companies are the "fragrant food" in the eyes of the Big Five when they acquired. Microsoft previously agreed to acquire Newans Communications, a healthcare-focused provider of cloud services and software, for $19.7 billion. Microsoft has also purchased companies that assist cloud services, such as Porters, which helps businesses move data to the cloud, and Knox Cloud Security, which works on cybersecurity. Google, which lags behind Microsoft and Amazon in cloud services, snapped up three cloud startups, including Actifo Data Management.

Former Space Germany

The metacosm is another important area favored by the Big Five. The U.S. Consumer News and Business Channel website pointed out in a recent report that 2022 will become the most important year in the field of "meta-universe". Goldman Sachs analysts wrote in a report last December: "Big tech companies are now looking at augmented reality as the next computing platform, which seems to be a reasonable shift in consumption patterns, and there will be new industry leaders coming out." Goldman Sachs estimates that as much as $1.35 trillion will be spent developing related technologies in the coming years.

Of course, the Big Five are not to be spared. One of the most fanatical is Meta. Since 2019, meta has had more than half of its patent applications mention augmented reality or virtual reality. The Economist report notes that of the 13 companies engaged in augmented reality or virtual reality acquired at public prices, Meta has acquired 8, including "Big Box" virtual reality companies and "Downpour Interactive" companies. Apple bought four, including NextVR Virtual Reality and Kinema 3D Animation, which is expected to release a high-end headset that mixes virtual reality and augmented reality in 2022.

Google has set up a new team and is currently hiring a large number of employees to develop an "innovative virtual reality device." Microsoft plans to develop the metacosm with two new initiatives. The first initiative helps managers gain insight into how customers move and interact in spaces such as retail stores and employees on the factory floor; The second initiative allows people in different locations to hold meetings, send messages, work on shared documents, and more, sharing holographic experiences.

Autonomous driving and healthcare

Google has invested in two self-driving car companies: "New Ways to Get Around" and Nuro. Apple acquired self-driving startup Drive in 2019. Apple's self-driving project, Project Titan, aims to launch a car in 2025. In February, Microsoft also joined the competition to invest in Weff, a London-based self-driving car company. Amazon has also invested in Aurora and Livian, the latter of which went public last November at a valuation of $67 billion, with Amazon holding a 20 percent stake. In addition, Amazon acquired self-driving car company Zuckers last year for $1.3 billion.

Overall, 9% of these big tech companies invest in the automotive and mobile sectors; The proportion of industries in the limelight industry is only 2.4%.

In addition, alphabet's venture capital arm and its private equity division have entered into about 400 transactions since 2019, of which about 100 are for companies engaged in life sciences or healthcare. Technology companies see this area as attractive in part because AI is becoming increasingly applicable to biology. Asset management experts believe that it is now possible to "write RNA structures on a computer as if it were software." Google's venture capital includes genome editing company Editas Pharmaceuticals and Adajo Pharmaceuticals, which discovered new drugs. Microsoft bought three wearable device companies, including Motion Tracker, for $2.1 billion, reflecting its growing interest in health care.

Fintech and quantum technology

Another 45 investments in Google's financing division went into fintech companies, and other tech companies are taking similar action. In 2020, Apple acquired Mobyweiff, a payments startup that turned the iPhone into a mobile contactless payment terminal. Last year, Amazon acquired Indian fintech company Perpule Retail Technology.

Tech giants are also increasingly interested in quantum computing. Google is currently developing its own quantum computing hardware. Last July, Google said it had demonstrated that its "planewood" quantum computer could detect and fix computational errors, a key step in large-scale quantum computing that is crucial to the future commercialization of the technology. Microsoft CEO Kevin Scott believes that investing in quantum computing is very important for Microsoft. In July 2021, Microsoft's venture capital arm participated in a $450 million financing of PsiQuantum.

The Boston Consulting Group estimates that once quantum optimization technology matures, applications in finance, logistics and aerospace alone could generate up to $220 billion in annual revenue.