AI Investment by Firms Surges 142 Percent in 2 Years

Overall business R&D spending climbs 18 percent to $24.4 billion.

A phone screen with AI logo, in this photo illustration. Oleksii Pydsosonnii/The Epoch Times

Australian companies have dramatically accelerated their investment in Artificial Intelligence (AI), with spending on its research and development soaring 142 percent since 2021–22.

New figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show businesses poured $668.3 million into AI R&D in 2023–24, up from $276.3 million two years earlier.