Like a nervous teenager before a first date, big companies are more scared than excited about the impact of AI on their business.
What happened: A new survey found that 56% of Fortune 500 companies have cited AI as a “risk factor” in recent disclosures.
- Entertainment and media companies are particularly concerned about AI — over 90% said it was a risk to their business.
Why it matters: It remains to be seen how disruptive AI will actually be, but the world’s biggest companies are preparing for the possibility that it upends their industry — that process would create both winners and losers.
What the risks look like…
- Salesforce warned its profit margins may suffer if it has to spend heavily to adopt AI.
- Disney pointed to unsettled laws around copyright and generative AI and the potential impact of those rules on its business.
- Netflix said it could be outcompeted by rivals who better use AI tech.
Yes, but: Some companies say AI is already proving to be a boon for their business, like Walmart, which said last week it used large language models to improve “850 million pieces of data” in its catalogue.—TS