Actually, corporate AI investment took a big hit in 2023.
Every year, Stanford University releases a detailed report on the state of the artificial intelligence industry. The latest report, unveiled this week, spans a massive 502 pages and offers valuable insights into the current trends in technology. Surprisingly, buried within the section on the economics of the AI industry is a shocking discovery: global corporate investment in AI actually decreased last year for the second year in a row.
Despite 2023 being hailed as a breakthrough year for AI, with the emergence of numerous chatbots and companies, the new HAI report reveals that total investment in AI dropped to $189.2 billion, marking a 20% decrease from the previous year. The most significant decline was seen in mergers and acquisitions, which plummeted by 31.2% from the year before. However, over the past decade, AI-related investments have skyrocketed thirteenfold.
The United States remains at the forefront of AI investment, outpacing all global competitors. With more AI companies launching last year than ever before, U.S. investments in artificial intelligence were nearly 8.7 times greater than those of China, the next largest investor. Furthermore, the U.S. saw 897 newly funded AI companies in comparison to China’s 122.
According to a McKinsey survey cited in the report, organizations that implemented AI last year experienced significant cost reductions and revenue increases. While “efficiency” may sound like a euphemism for replacing humans with algorithms, companies have identified the automation of contact centers as the primary use case for AI, with 26% of respondents implementing this technology.
