Analysis: The AI hype in SEC filings may have reached the "keyword peak", while the return on corporate AI investments remains to be verified.

By tracking the trend of buzzword usage in SEC filings of U.S. public companies, shifts in market narratives can be identified. Once a certain category of keywords peaks, their associated market value tends to decline. Analysts note that corporate language evolves rapidly in response to changes in technology, culture, and regulatory environments. Today, an increasing number of companies are heavily incorporating AI-related language into their earnings reports and disclosure documents, framing it as a new growth driver. However, despite rising corporate capital expenditures (CapEx) and operating expenditures (OpEx), few end customers have yet to deliver auditable, verifiable returns on AI investments (ROI). Data shows that the term "AI" has been steadily gaining traction since late 2022 and is now pervasive in large corporate filings. Meanwhile, "Agentic" (referring to agentic AI) is seeing a sharper growth trajectory and is regarded as the newest trending descriptor in the AI space. Analysts say AI technology itself is real and could become one of the most significant technological transformations of this century, but the path from capital investment to tangible value creation remains unclear. The market is still in its early stages, with only a small number of companies reaping substantial benefits from AI infrastructure investments. Going forward, value distribution will need to be rebalanced to enable more stakeholders to benefit.