The pace of conversation about artificial intelligence from executives is increasing after the success of ChatGPT, and not all of it comes from Big Tech.
Big Tech companies like Microsoft Corp., Meta Platforms Inc. and Alphabet Inc. was one of the biggest heavyweights when it came to discussing AI on this quarter’s earnings conference call, but businesses in other sectors also got in on the action. While the number of earnings calls mentioning AI is down from this time a year ago, the number of AI mentions has increased sharply, led by tech giants touting the power of AI. them more.
There have been 99 earnings calls for companies worth at least $5 billion, where artificial intelligence, or AI, is mentioned at least once so far this year, compared with 111 at this point. 2022, according to analysis of MarketWatch transcript data from AlphaSense /Sentieo. But this year’s calls brought in a total of 466 AI mentions, far higher than the 303 seen a year ago.
Management teams seem to want Wall Street to know the ways AI has impacted their business and how it can drive future profits, especially given the frenzied interest in the technology. due to OpenAI launching ChatGPT chatbot late last year. That launch introduced more people to the power of AI and kicked off a frenzy on Wall Street, as evidenced by BuzzFeed Inc.
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stock price surge after The Wall Street Journal reported on the company’s plans to uses OpenAI technology to enhance its puzzles.
Read: Comcast sells nearly 6 million shares of its BuzzFeed stake amid massive price hikes
Mention cryptocurrencies during conference calls skyrocketing at various points in 2021 and 2022 alongside skyrocketing prices for digital assets. But unlike cryptocurrencies, ChatGPT is “something where people can see applications immediately,” AlphaSense/Sentieo research director Nick Mazing told MarketWatch.
“It was not surprising to see everyone participating, in part due to the public attention that OpenAI products have garnered,” says Mazing.
See more: What is ChatGPT? Well, you may wonder it.
It is not uncommon for smaller companies to want to join the craze of the moment, as seen a few years ago when Eastman Kodak Co.
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and the business was then called Long Island Iced Tea Corp. are among those that have announced a move to blockchain. However, AI demonstrations are heating up the most at big tech companies.
Microsoft
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Google’s Mother Alphabet
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Facebook Mother Meta
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and Apple Inc.
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all develop and use AI in a variety of ways, some of which are not explicitly or publicly available. But Microsoft has received support in the eyes of some investors thanks to investment in OpenAI and plans to integrate technology into some parts of its business. The buzz of ChatGPT and Microsoft’s involvement with it is said to have increased pressure on Alphabet, Google’s parent company, to showcase more of its own AI capabilities, according to the New York Times.
Read: ChatGPT charges $20 a month for premium subscriptions, because chatbots grow faster than TikTok
Maybe that’s why executives at Alphabet specifically talked about AI this week. The words “AI” or “artificial intelligence” appeared 62 times in the earnings call Thursday afternoon, up from 26 times in the corresponding call in 2022. This includes mentions of both management and analysts.
“We are just at the beginning of our AI journey and the best is yet to come,” said CEO Sundar Pichai.
Executives at Meta, Facebook’s parent company, also stepped up rhetoric. AI appeared 37 times on Meta’s earnings call, up from 10 times a year earlier. CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasized that while Meta uses AI for recommendations and in its advertising business, he wants the company to “build on our research to be the top one. about synthetic AI”, the kind of AI that ChatGPT fits into.
Investors might not have been able to get a sense of Microsoft’s level of involvement in AI if they had judged only from a few of the company’s previous earnings calls, with only one digit mention of AI in every seven calls since the first quarter of 2021. But Microsoft’s management team was more open this time: The company’s January 24 call had 29 mentions of AI.
The company’s trade and investment partnership with OpenAI “I think will drive innovation and competitive differentiation in every Microsoft solution by leading in AI,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said during the call.
Apple
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have been quieter on this subject. The only two mentions of AI on Thursday’s call came from Wells Fargo analyst Aaron Rakers, who asked about the role AI plays in Apple’s services business and whether Apple is using AI heavily. better to monetize its subscriber base or not.
Do not miss: ChatGPT is called ‘iPhone moment in AI’, but is it making money like iPhone?
“That’s our main focus,” CEO Tim Cook replied. AI “will affect every product and every service we have.”
A search by Sentieo indicates that the term “AI” has not appeared in Apple’s earnings report since May 2018 prior to this latest call.
AI does not appear at all on Amazon.com Inc.
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calls, but executives at other tech companies were more verbose. At International Business Machines Corp.
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The AI received 34 mentions, up from 21 mentions a year earlier, and at networking company Juniper Inc.
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AI appeared 24 times, compared with 13 times in the corresponding call last year.
He said the first reason behind Juniper CEO Rami Rahim’s optimism about the business despite macroeconomic reasons is that Juniper is “focused on leveraging automation tools based on in the AI-driven cloud to simplify customer operations and improve the end-user experience.”
However, it’s not just tech executives who spend more time on technology. At the request of Robert Half International Inc.
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for a staffing company, AI received nine mentions, two more mentions a year earlier.
CEO M. Keith Waddell said: “We are very pleased with the returns, especially in terms of AI. “We are turning our attention to using AI to identify the most compelling leads for our field experts on the sales side.”
Caterpillar Inc.
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even spent mentioning AI for the first time since April 2021.
“We are investing heavily in AI,” CEO Jim Umpleby said on a January 31 Caterpillar call. The company uses AI to predict where parts will be needed and provide dealers with repair instructions.
For more: Beware of cheaters — ChatGPT maker releases AI detection tool for teachers
