EIU’s 13th annual industry report forecasts growth and key risks in the technology and telecoms sectors in 2024
- Investment into artificial intelligence (AI) will increase in 2024 as more companies go beyond experimentation and start to discover real use cases. However, the main impact of AI is likely to be on politics, as the US and others face elections.
- The leading semiconductor companies will continue to diversify in the West, owing to geopolitical concerns and the large government subsidies available.
- Regulators will scurry to keep up with developments in AI, with the EU trying to carve out a leading role in shaping the technology. Other areas, such as data, privacy and competition, will also be under regulators’ scrutiny.
- The geopolitical battle over technology between the US and China will continue, and the ramifications will affect many other countries.
A new report from EIU looks at the growth prospects and regulation of the technology and telecoms sector for 2024, amid tighter regulation and rising geopolitical tensions. The report argues that investment into AI will be the biggest trend but the focus for investors will shift from experimentation towards profitability and real use cases for the technology. The EU will lead on government efforts to regulate the technology, which could prove increasingly disruptive as multiple countries (notably the US) head for elections.
Dexter Thillien, lead technology analyst at EIU, says: “These are interesting times for the tech sector as the pace of innovation has regulators scurrying to catch up. Tech is also becoming increasingly political, as the US-China tech war drives semiconductor investment and use of AI threatens to disrupt elections. By contrast, concern about AI’s impact on jobs is, for now, misplaced. Most organisations will use AI in 2024 to augment performance, rather than to replace their workers.”
EIU’s report also provides key global forecasts for different parts of the tech sector:
- Adoption of generative AI will accelerate as Meta (US) and others roll out more data centres and servers to meet demand, but the biggest impact will be political.
- Demand for semiconductors will soften, despite AI expansion and heavy investment into production.
- Regulators, led by the EU, will tackle AI and other technologies but approaches will differ.
- The tech battle will continue between the US and China in areas including AI, chips and quantum technologies.
- Apple’s first metaverse headset, the Vision Pro, will become available to consumers in early 2024.
- The EU will tighten its regulations for cybersecurity as well as data and digital marketing.
- Use of satellite internet will increase as StarLink and OneWeb expand their services
