The global tech boom is over. American AI companies won

Innovation

Tech leaders called AI a democratizing force. But it’s concentrating power and wealth in a handful of American companies.

In 2016, the future looked bright for tech companies outside of Silicon Valley.

American investors were suddenly waking up to opportunities overseas, and allocating money accordingly. Venture firms that had once focused almost exclusively on Silicon Valley were now chasing deals in Beijing, Bengaluru, Jakarta, and São Paolo — kicking off a nearly decade-long golden age for global startups. That year, for the first time, private companies outside the U.S. raised more than American companies.

In the summer of 2016, Japanese social networking app Line went public in the biggest global tech IPO of the year. Indonesia’s Gojek was fast transforming from a motorbike ride-hailing service into a sprawling “super app,” becoming one of Southeast Asia’s only unicorns and later, a “decacorn,” valued at roughly $10 billion.