Curated Measures

AI Investment Barometer

Tracks how often companies discuss AI in the context of spending commitments during earnings calls.

Updated Apr 16, 2026 4 series 1,984 viewers 9 downloaders

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Overview

Our AI Investment Barometer measures corporate focus on artificial intelligence investments by analyzing earnings call transcripts. It identifies passages where AI-related topics are discussed in an investment context, providing insight into how companies are allocating resources toward AI capabilities.

More specifically, the AI Investment Signal is constructed by identifying earnings call passages where AI keywords co-occur with investment keywords. This approach naturally captures AI-specific investment discussions—such as GPU spending, data center investment, or compute expenditure—by leveraging the intersection of both taxonomies, rather than requiring a separate keyword category for AI infrastructure.

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AI mentions AND (R&D or CapEx) over time

Date range: January 1, 2017 to June 30, 2026.

Time-series chart for AI mentions AND (R&D or CapEx) over time.
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Series

4 total Data through Jun 30, 2026

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Methodology and data

Methodology

AI Mentions

Our AI keyword taxonomy captures references to artificial intelligence across multiple dimensions:

  • Core terminology — foundational concepts such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, generative AI, and large language models
  • Technical concepts — terms frequently discussed in business contexts, including neural networks, natural language processing, computer vision, foundation models, and inference
  • Application-layer terms — language signaling AI deployment, such as chatbots, intelligent automation, predictive maintenance, and AI-powered capabilities
  • Model names and versions — specific products from leading AI providers, including OpenAI (GPT-4, GPT-5, o1, o3), Anthropic (Claude 3.5, Claude 4, Claude 4.5), Google (Gemini 2, Gemini 3, Gemma), Meta (Llama 3, Llama 4), and Mistral (Mistral Large, Mixtral, Codestral)
  • Platforms and tools — enterprise AI infrastructure through which companies access AI capabilities, such as Microsoft Copilot, Amazon Bedrock, Azure OpenAI, Google Vertex AI, Databricks, and Hugging Face

This multi-layered approach captures both strategic AI discussions and specific technology adoption signals. The keyword list requires periodic updates to reflect the rapidly evolving model landscape.

Investment Keywords

Our investment keyword taxonomy captures corporate spending commitments across two dimensions:

  • Capital expenditure (Capex) — terms identifying infrastructure and fixed-asset investments, including capital expenditure, capital spending, equipment investment, infrastructure spending, and capital budgeting
  • Research & Development (R&D) — terms capturing innovation-oriented investments by combining core concepts (R&D, research, product development, innovation, patents) with spending-related language (investment, expense, expenditure, cost)

Data Access

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  • Format: CSV
  • Frequency: Updated bi-weekly
  • Coverage: 14,000+ global companies, 2017-present

References

NL Analytics. (2026). AI Investment Barometer [Data set]. NL Analytics. https://apps.nlanalytics.tech/curated-measures/ai-investment-barometer/

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