How big this market is, as its publishers state it
as of Sep 30, 2026 · 13 figures carried2 publishers carried, 2023–2029, 2 with a published outlook, the furthest to 2029. Figures are the publishers' own, shown side by side and never averaged.
Last read Sep 30, 2026: wrote 1 figure and 2 stated rates, refused 3 already stored.
Forge measures none of this. A statistical body publishes the history and its own outlook; Forge copies the figures with the sentence each came from and refreshes once a year, when the publishers do. A growing market says you are not building into a headwind — it says nothing about whether this application has customers.
Where its publishers say it is going
- $3.64 tnby 2027 · Gartner’s outlook, published 202642.5 % a year from $1.79 tn in 2025, implied by its own two figures
Gartner: projects to 2027 from 2025, its last observed year — 42.5 % a year implied by its own two figures; Gartner itself states 36.2 % a year over 2026–2027.
In Gartner’s words, 2026–2027 (published 2026): Worldwide AI spending will increase 49.5% in 2026, to $2.7 trillion, and grow another 36.2% in 2027 source
- $1.30 tnby 2029 · IDC’s outlook, published 202540.8 % a year from $235.0 bn in 2024, implied by its own two figures
IDC: projects to 2029 from 2024, its last observed year — 40.8 % a year implied by its own two figures; IDC itself states 29.0 % a year over 2024–2028.
In IDC’s words, 2024–2028 (published 2024): a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.0% over the 2024-2028 forecast period source
- Gartner· outlook dashed
- IDC· outlook dashed
Gartner: one observed year (2025), too short to state a rate.
| Year | Figure | Kind | Published | In the publisher’s words |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $1.79 tn | history | 2026 | Gartner now expects worldwide AI spending to increase 49.5% this year, from about $1.79 trillion in 2025 to $2.67 trillion in 2026.As the read noted: Figure attributed to Gartner's September 2026 forecast update, read via THE Journal article quoting Gartner; could not confirm Gartner's own press-release page for this exact figure. source |
| 2026 | $2.59 tn | Gartner’s outlook | 2026 (+1 earlier) | Worldwide spending on AI is forecast to total $2.59 trillion in 2026, a 47% increase year-over-year, according to Gartner, Inc.As the read noted: Newest Gartner release for 2026 (May 2026, $2.59T), superseding the earlier January 2026 release which had forecast $2.52T for 2026. source |
| 2027 | $3.64 tn | Gartner’s outlook | 2026 | Total AI Spending | 1,786,671 | 2,670,460 | 3,637,292 source |
IDC: 2023–2024 is too short to state a rate.
| Year | Figure | Kind | Published | In the publisher’s words |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $166.0 bn | history | 2023 | enterprises worldwide are expected to invest $166 billion on AI solutions in 2023.As the read noted: From IDC's Worldwide Semiannual AI Systems Spending Guide, 2023 (V2), as quoted in an IDC FutureScape PDF. source |
| 2024 | $235.0 bn | history | 2024 | Organizations were projected to spend $235 billion on AI in 2024, the baseline year for IDC's spending guide.As the read noted: Figure attributed to IDC's 2024 Worldwide AI and Generative AI Spending Guide; read via a third-party page (sqmagazine.co.uk) that quotes IDC, not IDC's own page directly. source |
| 2026 | $497.0 bn | IDC’s outlook | 2026 | IDC raised its full-year 2026 forecast to $497 billion on hyperscaler capex growth and emerging non-GPU AI demand.As the read noted: This is from IDC's Worldwide Quarterly AI Infrastructure Tracker (AI infrastructure hardware only, not the full AI spending guide series covering software/services). source |
| 2027 | $423.0 bn | IDC’s outlook | 2023 | This spending is expected to grow to $423 billion at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 26.9%As the read noted: Same IDC Worldwide Semiannual AI Systems Spending Guide, 2023 (V2) release; figure for 2027 endpoint of forecast. source |
| 2028 | $632.0 bn | IDC’s outlook | 2025 (+1 earlier) | Worldwide spending on artificial intelligence (AI), including AI-enabled applications, infrastructure, and related IT and business services, will grow by more than 29% annually at least through 2028 and reach a value of $632 billionAs the read noted: Sourced via Computerworld's reporting of IDC's Worldwide AI and Generative AI Spending Guide; IDC's own press release (my.idc.com) carries the same $632B/2028 figure but the Computerworld article was used as it quotes the guide verbatim. source |
| 2029 | $1.30 tn | IDC’s outlook | 2025 | This investment, driven by the growth of Agentic AI-enabled applications and systems to manage agentic fleets, will reach $1.3 trillion in 2029.As the read noted: From IDC's Worldwide Artificial Intelligence IT Spending Market Forecast (a different, broader IDC AI IT spending series than the AI and GenAI Spending Guide). source |
Other markets in Worldwide
What else the yearly read measures in this region.
- Healthcareworldwide$9.80 tn2022 · World Health OrganizationNo outlook published by World Health Organizationas of Sep 30, 2026
- IT spendingworldwide$5.56 tn2025 · Gartner$6.37 tn by 2026 · 14.7 % a year · Gartner’s outlookas of Sep 30, 2026
- E-commerceworldwide$6.42 tn2025 · eMarketer · +1 more, never averaged$8.91 tn by 2030 · 6.8 % a year · eMarketer’s outlookas of Sep 30, 2026
- Payments and fintechworldwide$2.00 tn2025 · Boston Consulting Group · +1 more, never averaged$2.60 tn by 2030 · 5.4 % a year · Boston Consulting Group’s outlookas of Sep 30, 2026
- Energyworldwide$3.30 tn2025, an outlook · International Energy AgencyNo outlook published by International Energy Agencyas of Sep 30, 2026
- Automotiveworldwide$96 m2025 · OICA · +1 more, never averagedNo outlook published by OICAas of Sep 30, 2026
- Telecommunicationsworldwide$1.19 tn2025 · GSMA$1.36 tn by 2030 · 2.7 % a year · GSMA’s outlookas of Sep 30, 2026
- Travel and tourismworldwide$1.90 tn2025 · UN Tourism · +1 more, never averagedNo outlook published by UN Tourismas of Sep 30, 2026