The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution is set to transform sectors ranging from accounting and regulatory frameworks to energy efficiency and technology infrastructure.
Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has reported that AI could make accounting more efficient, while Google’s support for AI regulation highlights calls for responsible governance from big tech companies. Meanwhile, researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz, are finding ways to reduce the energy costs of AI, and companies such as Micron Technology, Alibaba.com, and Perplexity AI are reaping big profits and investments from AI advances.
AI has the potential to transform the accounting industry, according to venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and as large-scale language models improve, accounting firms are eager to use it to boost efficiency and manage their growing workload.
With a decline in the number of new accounting graduates and 75% of CPAs expected to retire over the next decade, the CPA industry is facing a workforce crisis. Generative AI (GenAI) offers a potential solution by automating repetitive tasks like bookkeeping and tax filing, freeing accountants to focus on more valuable activities.
With finance departments across the country struggling with staffing shortages, AI is a vital tool to ensure efficiency and accuracy, and address the critical need to augment talent in the accounting industry.
Google’s President of Global Affairs, Kent Walker, has supported several AI regulation bills and proposed principles for responsible AI governance. As U.S. lawmakers grapple with AI regulation, Walker’s support underscores the tech industry’s recognition that effective AI oversight is both inevitable and necessary.
“We have long maintained that AI is too important not to regulate, and too important not to regulate it properly,” said Walker, who sponsored five key bills in the Senate AI Policy Roadmap to advance AI standards and promote U.S. leadership in the field.
As AI continues to be integrated into sectors from healthcare to finance, Google’s stance is likely to influence legislative and corporate discussions across the country.
Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz have developed a way to dramatically reduce the energy costs of running large language models, an innovation that could revolutionize the use of AI in e-commerce by making advanced capabilities more affordable for businesses of all sizes.
“We achieved the same performance for much less cost. All we had to do was fundamentally change the way the neural network works,” said lead author Jason Eshraghian, an assistant professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Currently, running advanced AI models like ChatGPT can cost up to $700,000 per day in energy alone, creating a significant barrier for small and medium-sized businesses.
Memory chipmaker Micron Technology reported strong quarterly results with revenue reaching $6.81 billion, driven by AI demand. The company highlighted strong performance from higher-margin products such as high-bandwidth memory (HBM).
Meanwhile, e-commerce giant Alibaba.com, which works with small businesses around the world to provide them with AI tools, has reported a 37% increase in product exposure among SMEs using these technologies.
Additionally, AI-powered search startup Perplexity has caught the eye of SoftBank’s Vision Fund, potentially securing millions in investment at a $3 billion valuation.
