Orange County’s untapped AI potential

When Forbes released its AI top 50 list last April, only one Orange County company made the cut. That’s despite California laying claim to thirty-five of the top fifty AI companies worldwide. OC, however, has untapped AI potential. The vast majority of Forbes’ top AI companies are headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. The only SoCal standouts are Costa-Mesa-based Anduril and San-Diego-based Shield AI. In 2021, the Brookings Institution issued a report identifying fifteen U.S. cities driving the AI revolution. Unsurprisingly, the Bay Area emerged as “the nation’s dominant...