With the rapid growth of research and development (R&D) investment in recent years, innovation outcomes have become increasingly significant. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 disrupted global economic development, yet innovation activities in technology fields—such as big data, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, and life sciences—flourished and played a critical role in pandemic response. In this context, major economies have strengthened their science and technology strategies, intensifying global competition. At the same time, geopolitical tensions have contributed to a reverse trend of globalization, promoting regionalization and localization of supply chains, particularly in technology and health sectors. This paper explores the current state of R&D investment and technological innovation under these complex external conditions, identifying research hotspots and future trends through visualization analysis with CiteSpace. A total of 344 publications (2012–2022) were retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection using topic searches related to R&D investment and innovation performance. Institutional and country-level networks were generated to identify the most productive contributors, while keyword and burst analyses were used to detect emerging hotspots and research frontiers. Findings indicate that R&D investment will remain central to economic activity, with future emphasis closely tied to sustainable development and the green economy. However, research in this area shows limited international collaboration, particularly within Europe. Emerging economies, including China and Southeast Asia, are increasingly building academic exchanges and cooperative networks. Future research on R&D investment is expected to shift from a predominant focus on internal environments toward external factors, such as political and investment environments, which will play a decisive role in shaping innovation performance.