Published August 5
A bevy of companies across different sectors reported earnings this week for the most recent quarter, from Disney to Spotify to Uber, and they all had at least one thing in common: AI.
If their results are any indication, the technology is enabling greater efficiency across their businesses and helping to streamline new features for consumers.
A major component of the AI hype this week was using it to enhance personalization for consumers.
“The question of who owns what data, and how it’s used responsibly, becomes increasingly important for the entire ecosystem,” Nexxen Chief Strategy Officer Kenneth Suh told The Current.
“The common thread is that AI is no longer a feature — it’s becoming the operating system underneath the product. The companies that have the richest, most reliable data to train on, as well as the discipline to use it in ways that build (rather than erode) consumer trust, will be the ones who succeed here.”
We gathered some highlights from the AI earnings bonanza:
Disney
“We see emerging technologies as a significant opportunity for our company to drive returns, one that builds on our legacy of innovating at the intersection of creativity and breakthrough technology,” Disney said in its letter to shareholders.
Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro said that the company is utilizing AI to make more films available in 3D and other premium formats; improve Disney+’s streaming recommendation engine; simplify planning and booking trips for parks visitors; and more.
“AI isn’t just about efficiency,” D’Amaro said. “It’s about enhancing the creative process that is human-centered. AI amplifies what our storytellers can do, it doesn’t replace them.”
Paramount
In its shareholder letter, Paramount emphasized how AI is helping the company operate more efficiently. The company said it’s building in-house enterprise apps across HR, recruiting and more “using AI development tools with rapid build times and savings versus third-party solutions.”
“We also have the majority of the workforce using AI tools across an accelerating number of workflows,” the company said. “In particular, we are seeing velocity and volume of features shipped increasing across our streaming engineering team.”
Spotify
There could be a downside to all the AI investments. While Spotify passed 300 million subscribers in Q2 and monthly active users grew, the company also said that AI spending could hurt its profitability in Q3.
Regardless, Spotify said that roughly 25% of its users are adopting its AI features like DJ. Further, 14 million users are turning to a new feature called Prompted Playlists, which lets listeners describe a specific mood or vibe to generate a custom playlist.
Uber
Uber said that AI is making the company “more intuitive for consumers while making our platform more efficient.”
“We’re finding that Cart Assistant resonates most when consumers are planning larger grocery and retail purchases, where a conversational experience makes it easier to build a complete basket,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in his earnings remarks, adding that consumers are creating grocery baskets double the size of their typical orders.
He added that AI agents are improving customer support: “In English-speaking markets, for example, an AI agent can now call our mapping and GPS tools directly to reconstruct a trip, investigate the route and resolve eligible fare disputes end-to-end.”
It’s all about the data
Despite all of this excitement around AI, Julie Clark, senior vice president of media and entertainment at TransUnion, echoed Suh, saying that the companies that win will be the ones that focus on data.
“AI is only as good as the data feeding it. If a model is working off fragmented or incomplete signals, it’s optimizing on a partial picture of the customer, and the output reflects that, even when the algorithm itself is sound,” Clark told The Current.
“The companies that will show real AI-driven gains this week are the ones that invested in connecting their data before they invested in the model.”
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August 4Tharshini Tharma-Asokan
