Will 2025 be the year that AI finally conquers the world?

April 2025 by Ana Carrisso

Artificial intelligence (AI) saw a boom in 2024 that captured investor interest. The US stock market reached historic highs, largely due to the strength of companies closely associated with the development of this new technology, such as NVIDIA, Meta and Alphabet. 12 months later, lots of us will know someone who has incorporated the use of AI into their daily life. We may have even used ChatGPT or similar services. However, for many, the same question remains: to what extent can the development of AI transform our economies, and how quickly will this innovation radically transform our work environment? According to the consultancy McKinsey, companies that employ AI in their processes can unlock an opportunity that is equivalent to $4.4 trillion in long-term productivity growth... but it is harder to quantify the short-term returns of AI: according to a study by the consultancy, 92% of companies plan to increase their investments in AI, but only 1% of corporate leaders believe that their companies have reached maturity in the use of AI (understood as the full integration of artificial intelligence tools into workflows, which generates substantial earnings for the business). These observations bring us back to the title of this article: will 2025 be the year that AI finally conquers the world?

AI is still in its infancy

We asked our experts for their opinion in the 2025 edition of our Annual Analyst Survey and the response is striking: 72% say that the use of AI will not have an impact on companies' profitability this year. When asked about specific cases where AI is having a transformative impact on the companies they analyze, the most cited examples concern process automation in customer service and back-office activities, although there are also companies in the consumer goods sector that use it to optimize promotions and discounts. In any case, most responses indicate that AI is still in its infancy. 

At the opposite end of the spectrum, although not surprising, our analysts tell us that more sectors are increasing their investment in AI-oriented R&D, with information technology (IT), finance and communication services sectors being the ones that have stepped up their efforts in this regard the most. 

The emergence of DeepSeek

Another important element that could challenge investors’ expectations regarding AI this year was the emergence of Chinese AI startup DeepSeek in January; Its launch showed that it is possible to develop AI that performs at the level of current models, such as ChatGPT, at a much lower cost. Until now, the prevailing view was that the race to dominate AI would be led by the companies most willing to invest the most money, which reduces competition to a small number of US tech giants. 

Our manager Tina Tian, manager of the Fidelity Funds China Innovation Fund, wrote in a note that in the wake of the “DeepSeek case,” investors are now becoming more critical of expectations about current corporate investment in AI, which in turn has led to a revaluation that has redistributed the odds on who the winners and losers in the development of these technologies might be. “The race for AI leadership is no longer just about who has the best chip, but about who can use it best,” Tina Tian explained in her note. 

In short, our analysts' expectations call for investors to take a pragmatic view of reality, but not rest on their laurels, as they foresee a positive impact on corporate profits within five years. How the business map will be reconfigured by then is still unknown, but they predict that the sectors with the greatest potential for AI-driven transformation by 2030 will be healthcare and finance. Time will tell, but don't expect spectacular tangible results over the rest of the year.