Morningstar has launched a 'first-of-its-kind' generative artificial intelligence (AI) company index, the Morningstar PitchBook GenAI 20 Index.

The perpetual benchmark is designed to track the performance of pure-play generative AI companies throughout their lifecycle as they transition from private markets through public listing.

Morningstar said that, as generative AI reshapes productivity, business models, and competitive dynamics in the global economy, many companies driving significant breakthroughs remained private and unrepresented in traditional market benchmarks.

Its new generative AI index aims to address this gap by providing exposure to leading pure-play generative AI innovators.

The index is built on a perpetual structure designed to track companies continuously, aiming to provide a durable and consistent framework for measuring, comparing, and analysing generative AI leadership as the market evolves.

It uses the global private markets data and capabilities of PitchBook, which is a Morningstar company, to identify firms advancing core technologies.

Morningstar Indexes head of innovation, Sanjay Arya, argued that staying on the forefront of innovation in generative AI required a clear view of opportunities across both public and private markets.

“As private markets play an increasingly critical role in technology development, having transparent and measurable benchmarks is essential,” he said.

“We believe this new index helps provide clarity to one of the most important growth themes of the next decade.”

PitchBook senior investment research analyst, AI & cybersecurity, Dimitri Zabelin, added: “Generative AI represents a fundamental shift in how software is built, deployed, and scaled across the global economy.

“Unlike prior waves of innovation, its horizontal nature allows core generative models to influence nearly every sector simultaneously, reshaping workflows, products, and decision-making at unprecedented speed.

“As this transformation accelerates, the companies advancing foundational generative AI capabilities are increasingly central to how value is created in the technology ecosystem.

“Understanding how this layer evolves, consolidates, and scales is essential to interpreting the next phase of technological change.”

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