The 2021 AI Index is the fourth annual study of the impact and progress AI is making globally and is developed by an interdisciplinary team at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence in partnership with organisations from industry, academia and government. Big pharma The biggest area of activity for investors was in M&As. The sector that received the most funding in 2020 was, not surprisingly, in drug discovery and molecular biology, with more than $13.8bn, according to the index. “The biggest increases were in health care and pharma, where four times as many people increased their investments as decreased them,” said Erik Brynjolfsson, a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI (HAI) and director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab.