Corporate spending on artificial intelligence has accelerated sharply, reaching $581.7 billion in 2025, a 130 percent rise from the year before, according to the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI’s 2026 AI Index. At the same time, the major cloud providers Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Meta are projected to allocate roughly $700 billion to AI infrastructure this year. As the third-quarter earnings window opens, investors are demanding concrete evidence that the hype translates into profit.
Spain’s Santander bank disclosed that its artificial-intelligence projects generated roughly €194 million (about $216 million) of business value during the first nine months of 2026. Chief financial officer José García Cantera told CNBC that the technology is automating low-value tasks, freeing staff to concentrate on higher-margin activities. He added that the impact is visible on both revenue and cost lines, allowing the quarter to be directly linked to a positive AI contribution.
Swiss drugmaker Novartis reported third-quarter core operating income of $6.04 billion, a 10 percent year-on-year increase at constant currencies. CEO Vas Narasimhan told CNBC that this marks the first quarter in which artificial intelligence has begun to improve the company’s profit-and-loss statement in a tangible way. He noted early gains in research and development productivity as well as in marketing and sales, suggesting that AI is starting to lift both innovation pipelines and commercial outcomes.
British lender Standard Chartered said its third-quarter operating income grew 14 percent at constant currency, excluding notable items, and attributed part of the acceleration to artificial-intelligence tools. CFO Manus Costello told “Squawk Box Europe” that AI now appears across the business, enhancing customer relationships and driving higher revenue. He highlighted stronger operating leverage, noting that income is rising faster than costs because AI enables core processes to be scaled more efficiently.
Carlsberg’s chief executive Jacob Aarup-Andersen said the brewery is not yet realizing AI benefits at scale, but the technology is already influencing internal workflows, cost efficiency, commercial pricing, marketing and supply-chain management. He emphasized that while large-scale financial impact remains limited, the firm is using AI to refine operations and improve decision-making across multiple functions.
Meta reported that its artificial-intelligence investments generated “substantial incremental advertising revenue” in its October 21 earnings release, while total revenue rose 26 percent for the quarter ending September 30. Google disclosed that Search revenue growth slowed amid competitive AI pressures, yet Google Cloud revenue more than doubled to almost $31 billion in the same period, underscoring divergent performance trends within the sector.