Artificial intelligence is a top investment priority for business leaders.
More than two-thirds of U.S. CEOs consider investing in generative AI to be a top priority for their company, according to a new KPMG survey of 400 U.S. CEOs.
“This is not hype,” Paul Knopp, chairman of KPMG US, told Yahoo Finance Live (video above). “It will be disruptive, and CEOs will be paying close attention.”
The AI boom sparked by OpenAI’s release of ChatGPT late last year has quickly swept across corporate America. In the last week alone, Amazon (AMZN) announced a $4 billion investment in AI startup Anthropic; Meta (META) began rolling out new generative AI tools for advertisers; and Zoom (ZM) unveiled AI products to compete with tech giants Microsoft (MSFT), has backed OpenAI and Google (GOOG, GOOGL).
Goldman Sachs predicts that AI investments will grow rapidly and reach around $200 billion worldwide by 2025. In the long term, Goldman expects AI-related investments to peak at up to 4% of US GDP.
Jefferies senior analyst Brent Thill recently told Yahoo Finance Live that he sees Microsoft, Amazon and Google as winners as corporate spending shifts to AI, although he warned that it is far from a “zero-sum game.”
Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks about AI during the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California on September 27, 2023. (JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images)
While the enthusiasm for AI is clear and companies are making it a top priority, it may take time for these investments to pay off.
KPMG’s survey found that 62% of CEOs expect a return on their AI investments within three to five years, while 23% expect a return in just one to three years.
“AI investments are currently at a relatively early stage, and most of today’s investments are about ideation,” Knopp added. “We will see increasing use cases of generative AI across many different industries. … It will be disruptive, and that is reflected in our survey of CEOs.”
Seana Smith is a host at Yahoo Finance. Follow Smith on Twitter @SeanaNSmith. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations, or anything else? Email [email protected].
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