AI’s spending boom, which has continued mostly unabated so far in 2026, has left its imprint on many of this year’s world-leading innovators. In pharma, Eli Lilly has brought its LillyPod supercomputer online, and Roche has deployed NVIDIA-based AI computing infrastructure. Bristol Myers Squibb has announced plans to expand its existing infrastructure with NVIDIA Vera Rubin systems. In the industrial sector, Siemens, for instance, is developing an “Industrial AI Operating System.”
In the list that follows, AI and software companies and semiconductor companies account for 43 of the 100, spanning AI models, chip design, manufacturing equipment and memory. Alphabet and Meta together spent $118.5 billion on R&D in 2025. Not long ago, pharma outspent tech. Merck & Co. reported more R&D expense than Google in 2010, 2011 and 2012; Google pulled ahead in 2014, with $9.8 billion of R&D against Merck’s $7.2 billion, on figures that exclude the Motorola handset business Google sold that year. In 2025, Alphabet alone spent nearly four times the R&D expense of Merck ($15.8 billion) and more than four times that of Eli Lilly ($13.3 billion), the industry’s largest pure-play drugmaker by market value. NVIDIA, meanwhile, raised its research budget 43% to $18.5 billion in its fiscal year ended January 25, 2026, more than either drugmaker spent.
The scale of AI research spending has eclipsed that of prominent R&D-focused organizations. For instance, frontier lab OpenAI reportedly spent about $19 billion on R&D in 2025. To put that into perspective, ag giant Deere spent $2.31 billion. In their respective fiscal 2025 periods, 3M and Dow invested $1.17 billion, and Dow’s $752 million, respectively.
R&D World’s 2024 list paired company profiles with patent, publication and financial measures. This year’s research covers a larger field and follows what companies built, who is using it and what results have been reported. The table is alphabetical within each industry. The main review period is September 2025 through August 2026. Dated September updates appear where they materially affect the assessment. Select a company name to read its profile and sources. The full comparison will accompany the forthcoming 2026 Global R&D Funding Forecast.
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