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Ranked: Tech Companies by R&D Investment Change in 2023
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Innovation is the name of the game for tech companies—many of whom were founded as disruptors, and for whom change really is the only constant. So who’s prioritizing moving fast and breaking things?
In this chart we explore how R&D investment has changed in 2023 for major tech companies specializing in software and services.
Data is sourced from the Global Innovation Index 2024, an annual report produced by the World Intellectual Property Office.
Software and Services Companies Are Chasing AI Gains
Adobe leads the top companies in the “ICT” (Internet Communication Technology) software space when it comes to R&D spending change in 2023.
| Rank | Company | R&D Spend Change (2022–2023) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🇺🇸 Adobe | +16.3% |
| 2 | 🇺🇸 Uber | +13.1% |
| 3 | 🇺🇸 IBM | +12.5% |
| 4 | 🇺🇸 Alphabet | +10.7% |
| 5 | 🇺🇸 Meta | +9.8% |
| 6 | 🇺🇸 Oracle | +9.7% |
| 7 | 🇺🇸 Workday | +8.5% |
| 8 | 🇨🇳 Tencent | +5.7% |
| 9 | 🇨🇳 Baidu | +5.1% |
| 10 | 🇺🇸 Intuit | +5.0% |
| 11 | 🇺🇸 Electronic Arts | +4.0% |
| 12 | 🇺🇸 Microsoft | +3.4% |
| 13 | 🇩🇪 SAP | +3.0% |
| 14 | 🇺🇸 Salesforce | -3.0% |
| 15 | 🇨🇳 Alibaba | -7.6% |
| N/A | 🌎 Average | +6.4% |
The creative services provider—known for their suite of design products—has embraced the AI revolution. In 2023, it launched Adobe Firefly, a suite of AI tools that enhances creativity by allowing users to generate images and text effects effortlessly through intuitive prompts.
Elsewhere other companies are also getting in on AI. Google launched Gemini, their answer to ChatGPT in December 2023.
That same year, Meta launched Llama 2, a family of pre-trained LLMs for research and commercial use.
However, not everyone had Big Tech’s big pockets to buy a ticket immediately for the AI express.
For example, Salesforce cut 8,000 jobs in 2023 in a bid to control costs and improve profitability, which didn’t leave a lot of room for more R&D investment. They have since announced “AI integration” in all their products.
Learn More on the Voronoi App 
Check out the spenders in the hardware space in Ranked: Tech Manufacturers by R&D Investment Change in 2023. Unsurprisingly, chipmakers dominate.