A new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows that the majority of US companies investing in generative artificial intelligence (AI) are not making a profit.
The report The GenAI Divide: State of AI in Business 2025 shows that up to 95% of businesses using AI in their workflow see that this technology has little or no significant impact.
Over the past three years, large technology corporations such as Microsoft and Google have spent $35 to $40 billion on AI, while cutting staff to optimize profits, according to indianexpress.
However, research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology based on 150 AI leadership interviews, 300 AI applications and surveys of 350 employees has shown that most pilot AI projects have failed due to unstable workflows, inadequacies with reality, and lack of context-based learning.
The report also pointed out the waste of resources when more than half of the investment in AI is spent on sales and marketing, both of which still require human presence. Meanwhile, AI has a more obvious impact on administrative and repetitive tasks.
Some companies can increase their revenue from 0 to 20 million USD in just one year, said Aditya Challlapally, lead author of the report. But most of them have difficulty because there is too much space in integrating AI into practical activities".
The important difference between success and failure groups lies in the implementation method. Companies that purchase AI tools from specialized suppliers have a success rate of about 67%, while this rate is only 40% for companies that develop their own solutions.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology believes that managers who know how to promote gradual adoption and train adaptive human resources have helped businesses make better use of AI.
In addition, research also shows that companies are starting to experiment with agency AI systems that are capable of learning, remembering and performing actions, opening up a vision of the future of AI in businesses.
In the context of expectations of AI to comprehensively change the economy, the research results from MIT are a warning that investing in this technology does not mean success, but also requires a strategy for implementation properly and in accordance with reality.
