Research by communications agency Hard Numbers finds AI innovation in the UK has jumped following ChatGPT's launch.

A year on from the launch of ChatGPT, the number of UK companies with ‘AI’ in their title has more than tripled to now stand at 1,284, an increase of 202%. The technology is being increasingly incorporated by sectors such as PR and marketing.

“This data paints a clear picture: we have officially entered the fifth phase of the industrial revolution," says Paul Stollery, co-founder and creative director of Hard Numbers. "The impact of AI will be as profound as that of any great technology to have come before it – from the first revolution of mechanisation and steam power, to the fourth, ushered in by the internet.

“The impact of ChatGPT on innovation in the UK is as impressive as you would expect. There has been a three-fold increase in AI companies launching in the UK following the release. And the rate at which companies are launching is accelerating."

Of the new AI firms, 625 - almost half - are based in London. That Manchester comes second with just 21 firms highlights London's dominance in the tech sector. Stollery continues: “London dominates to a disappointing extent, with as many AI companies launching as the rest of the country put together.

"Levelling up the country is a complex thing. But I thought we would have gotten further by the time we passed the Turing Test. Clearly, that is not the case.”