AI spend rises as enterprises solve for scale, adoption

The number of companies with AI budgets in the $500,000 to $5 million range rose 55% year over year, according to Appen's State of AI and Machine Learning report released Tuesday. The survey was conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of Appen and consulted 501 business leaders and data specialists. Scaling AI technology is a bigger priority for enterprise businesses when compared to their smaller counterparts. By contrast, diversity of the data powering AI is a higher priority for small and medium companies than for enterprises. Regardless of size, businesses with annual AI budgets of $1 million or more were more likely to bring their projects closer to deployment.