Microsoft and Google leading the AI arms race – Wedbush

Wedbush analysts revealed in a note Tuesday that Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) topped their proprietary generative AI survey.

The firm partnered with marketing/analytics strategy consultants to survey 672 businesses to study how large enterprise decision-makers are viewing generative AI and their strategies, actions, and upcoming plans.

“Survey says Microsoft followed by Google are early leaders…while Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Meta (NASDAQ:META) are expected to narrow the gap,” the analysts revealed.

“One of the top takeaways from the survey was Microsoft taking the early lead in the race with its OpenAI acquisition as the company has a significant AI monetization opportunity within Azure through Microsoft Co-Pilot while Google is also being viewed as a major Generative AI player now and down the road as it further improves Bard and its PaLM/LaMDA LLMs,” the analysts added.

Wedbush said Microsoft and Google “appear to be in the AI driver’s seat,” which they believe will be a battle over the next decade as they see other technology companies, such as Amazon, Meta, Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), and other tech stalwarts collectively spending billions in the AI arms race over the coming years.

“Our conclusions from this Wedbush Proprietary Enterprise Generative AI Survey are very positive for Google, Microsoft, and the myriad of tech players globally that are heavily investing in developing Generative AI products/solutions for enterprises as the use cases and monetization opportunities continue to rapidly grow,” the analysts said.