Artificial intelligence is growing on the Vistula River

“There are over 100 companies creating innovations based on artificial intelligence in Poland. We have the potential to become one of the world leaders. However, money and new talents are needed.

The world is on the brink of a new digital revolution, all thanks to advanced algorithms. Today, the leaders in artificial intelligence (AI) are the US and China. Europe is lagging behind, although - according to experts - the distance is not impossible to make up. On our continent, Poland stands out in this respect.

We have over a hundred companies in the country that create AI innovations, not blindly copy technologies from abroad. A map of domestic start-ups developing advanced algorithms that have the potential to make it on the global market has just been created. – There are more and more AI start-ups in Poland. 

They mainly develop solutions for marketing, industry and healthcare - says the author of the map, Przemysław Chojecki, doctor of mathematics, lecturer at Oxford University, one of the most recognizable Poles in the AI industry.

There is no shortage of such people on the Vistula River. Poland is a country known for its talented software engineers and excellent technical education. Our countrymen can be found in almost every major software company in the Silicon Valley, and in the case of the AI industry, we can even talk about their overrepresentation. Our compatriots are among the key figures of the market leaders: Jacek Krawczyk (head of Google Bard), Szymon Sidor, Wojciech Zaremba, Łukasz Kaiser and Jakub Pachocki (all from OpenAI), Tomasz Czajka (SpaceX) and Filip Wolski (currently working for investment companies in the USA) are just some of the names known around the world.

We have over a hundred companies in the country that create AI innovations, not blindly copy those from abroad. They have the potential to make it in the global market. But will we be able to use it? There are a lot of barriers.

But there are still few native AI companies conquering international markets. The most recognizable start-up is ElevenLabs, which deals with cloning and generating the human voice (recently, investors pumped USD 19 million into it). Among the potentates on the Vistula River, you can also indicate our candidate for a unicorn (an innovative company valued at over $ 1 billion) - CosmoseAI (develops traffic analytics systems for stationary stores).

So why is Poland only in the "second league" of AI? It's about money. Chojecki points out that there is a lack of large investors and capital for such innovative ventures. Another problem is the low demand for these technologies among Polish companies. This causes the emigration of talents. The lure abroad is also higher wages. – Numerous regulations from the GDPR to the so-called The AI Act is also not helping start-ups. This excessive regulation is a problem for the entire EU - emphasizes Chojecki."