10 Companies Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a Compelling Way

Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere in the business world these days. There are plenty of companies using AI, just as there are investors looking to capitalize on the opportunities with the new technology.

Anyone who's used ChatGPT or other new AI applications knows that there are many opportunities to leverage artificial intelligence. AI systems can communicate with customers, replace human labor, process large amounts of data, and solve difficult problems.

In this article, we'll explore how companies are taking advantage of AI and the wide variety of ways they're doing so.

Ten companies leveraging AI

Ten companies leveraging AI

Companies 1 - 5

1. Amazon

Few companies are involved in as many industries as Amazon (AMZN -0.61%), including e-commerce, cloud computing, logistics, voice-activated technology, and even autonomous vehicles. It shouldn't come as a surprise that Amazon is also using AI in a wide range of ways.

For example, Amazon uses artificial intelligence to analyze images and videos to improve product listings and recommendations. It uses AI to make its supply chain more efficient as well, including forecasting demand, optimizing inventory levels, and routing orders efficiently. It's making voice assistant Alexa more conversational, and it's even aiming to use autonomous mobility robots in its warehouses.

Amazon Go, its chain of cashier-less "Just Walk Out" stores, is a good example of real-world AI. The stores use computer vision and deep learning algorithms to automatically charge customers based on what they take.

2. Meta Platforms

Another tech giant that has long been harnessing the power of AI is Meta Platforms (META 0.82%), best known as a social media titan through its ownership of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The company uses AI for recommendation algorithms. When you go on Facebook or Instagram, the accounts it suggests that you follow or the stories it chooses to show you are based on AI.

Similarly, it uses AI to recognize content like nudity or hate speech. More recently, the company has applied AI to features like chatbots, virtual assistants, and real-time translation.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg also laid out a compelling vision for generative AI, handling entire ad campaigns, including creative, starting with just a budget and objective. While Meta has yet to implement that, it shows the potential of the technology and the company's ambitious plans.

Meta AI, the company's chatbot, is also among the most-used AI chatbots in the world.

3. Tesla

Few companies are making as big a bet these days on AI as Tesla (TSLA 2.58%), the leading electric vehicle maker, which has been investing heavily in making full self-driving, or autonomous driving, a reality.

AI is at the core of autonomous vehicle systems, and Tesla's AI system gathers visual data in real time from eight cameras on the car to produce a 3D image that identifies the road and any obstacles and makes decisions accordingly.

Tesla uses AI for data analytics and is also working on creating a general-purpose, bipedal, autonomous humanoid robot, known as Optimus, that can handle a wide variety of tasks.

CEO Elon Musk has said several times that autonomy will be the differentiator and that Tesla is spending aggressively on AI hardware to handle the massive computing needs.

The company launched its robo-taxi network in June in Austin, Texas, with just 10 to 20 vehicles. As of September, Tesla aims to ramp up the launch and expand to other states, like Nevada and California.

4. Upstart

Upstart (UPST -2.76%) has gotten a lot of attention as an AI stock since it went public in 2020. The company aims to disrupt traditional credit scores with an AI-based model.

Upstart assesses borrowers using a machine-learning model with 1,600 data points and 15 billion cells of data to better determine risks and creditworthiness.

With its AI-first model, Upstart seeks to make loans accessible to more individuals and hopes to democratize the financial system. It also says that its algorithm can assess risk more accurately than traditional credit scores.

The company introduced a new model, Model 18, in 2024 that significantly improved its conversion rate, or the percentage of loan applicants that get approved, showing that its technology continues to get better.

5. Netflix

If you're wondering how Netflix (NFLX 1.4%) determines what shows and movies to show you when you log into your account, AI is the answer. The company uses machine-learning algorithms to analyze your viewing and match the preferences of others who have similar tastes.

The streaming leader uses AI in other ways, such as deciding which image of a title to show when you're browsing. It even uses AI to help decide what locations to shoot for movies and shows.

Netflix is also using AI for dubbing, which is helping to drive its global business and making it easier for content to travel from country to country.

Companies 6 - 10

6. Alphabet

Alphabet (GOOG 0.86%) (GOOGL 0.82%) CEO Sundar Pichai said that his company was an AI-first company shortly after he became chief executive in 2016, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the tech giant is implementing AI in a number of different ways.

Like other companies on this list, Alphabet uses recommendation algorithms to determine what web pages to show in its search results, and AI helps improve results from its ad products since it allows for better targeting.

AI also plays a role in Google Cloud, which offers machine learning services to its customers. Google Cloud also uses AI tools to improve its cybersecurity.

Beyond that, the company is using AI in its autonomous vehicle unit, Waymo, and in new products like its Gemini chatbot.

It has also introduced an AI assistant for Google Search, and YouTube uses AI for enhanced search to take users to the right starting frame of a video.

Arguably, Alphabet has more applications and potential applications for AI than any other company.

7. JPMorgan Chase

It's not just tech companies that are leveraging the power of AI. The financial industry is also taking advantage of these new tools, including big banks like JPMorgan Chase (JPM -0.29%).

JPMorgan Chase uses AI to help with fraud detection and customer service. One of the more creative ways it's using the new technology is with a ChatGPT-like model that analyzed speeches from the Federal Reserve over the last 25 years to try to decipher trading signals and gain an advantage.

Algorithmic trading is also a popular AI application for financial services companies, so it makes sense that JPMorgan Chase would use it to help its trading business.

It also introduced a tool for employees called LLM suite, giving them a set of generative AI tools, and using gen AI in call centers.

Considering the amount of research big banks do, AI has reportedly saved JPMorgan a lot of time, eliminating two to four hours of work per day by quickly calling up information and helping to make decisions.

8. Boeing

Big manufacturing companies like Boeing (BA 0.56%) also use AI in a number of ways.

For example, Boeing signed an agreement with Shield AI to collaborate on autonomous capabilities. Shield AI has created an AI pilot that has flown a variety of aircraft. The pilot also has the ability to enable drones and aircraft to operate autonomously.

AI technologies help airlines adjust or optimize routes to minimize fuel consumption, reduce flight times, and avoid turbulence.

Additionally, Boeing is experimenting with using artificial intelligence in air traffic management systems, using AI technologies like computer vision and speech recognition. AI is playing a role in its financial management as it uses AI to automate sourcing and make its bids more competitive.

Finally, Boeing sees an opportunity to use AI to take pictures and analyze images of planes that have landed to see if there is any damage. Similarly, it's using AI techniques like advanced modeling to identify safety concerns before they become major issues.

9. Johnson & Johnson

Healthcare companies like Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 0.6%) are also using AI in a number of ways.

For instance, Neutrogena, its skincare brand, has an app that will analyze your face and how it's changing to ensure that your beauty routine is delivering the desired results. The technology uses a skin scanner device that goes over your smartphone camera, magnifies your camera lens, and uses lighting to get a clear image.

Another AI algorithm helps doctors use a bronchoscope during lung biopsies and locate tumors more easily.

Johnson & Johnson is also using AI to help with drug discovery. One way that AI helps is by sorting through photos of microscopic compounds and using those photos to inform future experiments on other diseases.

10. ExxonMobil

Energy giants like ExxonMobil (XOM 1.41%) are tapping into the power of AI to make their businesses more efficient and improve their outcomes.

For example, ExxonMobil has long used machine learning algorithms to avoid equipment failures, increase production, and automate certain jobs. AI has important applications for the energy industry because equipment failures can cause major delays, and some platforms are unmanned. AI also makes operations more efficient and automates some parts of the drilling process. Ultimately, the company is pursuing autonomous drilling, a system that can determine optimal parameters and drill automatically in some circumstances.

The company also uses AI to manage the reams of data it generates and to avoid siloing. As machine learning tools get even better, they should become even more commonly adopted by ExxonMobil and its big oil peers.

Key Applications of AI

Key applications of AI

There are a lot of ways that companies are using AI. Let's review some of the major ones.

• Machine learning: Machine learning is behind everything from recommendation algorithms to image recognition. It's a core function of autonomous vehicles.
• Autonomous vehicles: Autonomous vehicles have the potential to be the most disruptive form of AI. If the technology goes mainstream, it would mean a transformation in transportation and could lead to millions of drivers losing their jobs.
• Robotics: Robotics is another cornerstone application of AI. While you might think of Tesla's Optimus as a prime example of AI in robotics, there are also more basic robots, such as the ones Amazon uses to move packages around its warehouses.
• Fraud detection: For banks and other financial companies, fraud detection plays a significant role in how they use AI. AI is skilled at picking up and identifying patterns that are often the sign of fraud.
• Generative AI: The technology that kicked off the AI boom is also among the most disruptive forms of AI. Generative AI is mostly thought of as online chatbots like ChatGPT, but it includes image generation, video generation, and other forms of generated content.
• Agentic AI: Agentic AI may be the next step beyond generative AI, involving using AI agents to perform tasks, often through chatbots, without human assistance.

What's next for AI?

What's next for AI?

As you can see from the list above, the biggest companies in the world are turning to artificial intelligence to cut costs and work more efficiently, but they're not alone.

AI is being embraced across the business world by small and medium-sized businesses as well, since its benefits can help businesses of any size.

Staying competitive is crucial in any industry, which means that companies are likely to look for more ways to take advantage of AI. Its ability to cut costs and solve problems that humans can't swiftly solve can give these companies a competitive advantage.

Given that hundreds of billions of dollars are being poured into AI annually, we're likely to see AI advance rapidly and become a greater part of day-to-day business in the coming years.

AI is becoming a bigger part of software, and investors should expect to see AI agents play a greater role in software, allowing businesses to gain insights more efficiently and quickly.

In physical AI, we're likely to see advances in areas like autonomous vehicles and robotics, and AVs can go mainstream one day.

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Challenges

Challenges of utilizing AI in the business world

While AI is valuable in a number of ways, it can also present challenges for businesses.

• AI is expensive: We're still in the expansion or "land grab" phase of AI, with companies rapidly opening data centers and spending billions of dollars to do so. That means both hardware and software companies are going to have to pay for the AI capabilities that are currently being built out.
• Privacy concerns: There is a long history of AI raising privacy issues. For instance, Amazon's facial recognition tool, Rekognition, was the focus of much controversy when it rolled out to police, which it has since stepped back from.
• Workforce disruption: AI is already changing the workforce as entry-level coding jobs are becoming much harder to find, a sign that work is being replaced by AI. We'll likely see the new technology disrupt other jobs in the coming years.
• Misinformation: Generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews are known for "hallucinating" at times, or making up facts. It's important for AI users to double-check information from chatbots with verifiable sources.