Ethics Policy Society
Large Technology Companies Gain More Visibility in AI Research – But Cite Narrower and More Recent Literature
A new analysis of top AI conferences shows that research articles funded by large technology companies receive significantly more citations than others, but at the same time rely on narrower and more recent scientific literature.
Researchers examined publications from ten leading AI conferences – such as ICLR, CVPR, AAAI, and ACL events – over more than two decades. The data covered approximately 49,800 articles from 1998 to 2022, as well as about 1.8 million citations from AI articles to other publications and 2.3 million citations from other publications to AI articles. The data was collected from the international Scopus citation database.
The core of the examination was articles funded by large technology companies, the so-called Big Tech sector. The study explored through seven questions how much the industry funds top publications, how the impact of funded articles differs from others, and what kind of citation practices are associated with them.
According to the results, industry-funded AI papers receive, on average, a higher number of citations than works done without company funding. At the same time, they are more inward-looking in their citation networks: they relatively cite more other works funded by the same sector or published in the same conferences, making them more segregated in the research field.
Additionally, articles funded by large technology companies show a stronger so-called novelty or recency bias. They cite more recent publications than usual, while older background literature is less referenced. The study does not take a stance on whether such emphasis is beneficial or harmful, but it highlights that industry funding shapes the direction of AI research and its way of connecting to other sciences.
Source: Big Tech-Funded AI Papers Have Higher Citation Impact, Greater Insularity, and Larger Recency Bias, ArXiv (AI).
Researchers examined publications from ten leading AI conferences – such as ICLR, CVPR, AAAI, and ACL events – over more than two decades. The data covered approximately 49,800 articles from 1998 to 2022, as well as about 1.8 million citations from AI articles to other publications and 2.3 million citations from other publications to AI articles. The data was collected from the international Scopus citation database.
The core of the examination was articles funded by large technology companies, the so-called Big Tech sector. The study explored through seven questions how much the industry funds top publications, how the impact of funded articles differs from others, and what kind of citation practices are associated with them.
According to the results, industry-funded AI papers receive, on average, a higher number of citations than works done without company funding. At the same time, they are more inward-looking in their citation networks: they relatively cite more other works funded by the same sector or published in the same conferences, making them more segregated in the research field.
Additionally, articles funded by large technology companies show a stronger so-called novelty or recency bias. They cite more recent publications than usual, while older background literature is less referenced. The study does not take a stance on whether such emphasis is beneficial or harmful, but it highlights that industry funding shapes the direction of AI research and its way of connecting to other sciences.
Source: Big Tech-Funded AI Papers Have Higher Citation Impact, Greater Insularity, and Larger Recency Bias, ArXiv (AI).
This text was generated with AI assistance and may contain errors. Please verify details from the original source.
Original research: Big Tech-Funded AI Papers Have Higher Citation Impact, Greater Insularity, and Larger Recency Bias
Publisher: ArXiv (AI)
Authors: Max Martin Gnewuch, Jan Philip Wahle, Terry Ruas, Bela Gipp
December 25, 2025
Read original →