Only 27% of SMEs to hike AI spending as over half eye adoption

Firms are prioritising chatbots and text generators.

Only 27% of Hong Kong’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) plan to increase their financial investment in artificial intelligence (AI) next year, even as a majority move toward the technology.

Over half (55%) of SMEs have either used or plan to utilise AI tools in their daily operations within the next year, according to a Hong Kong Productivity Council report. However, Only 32% reported using paid solutions.

Paid usage was highest in information and communications (64%), followed by financing and insurance (47%), and manufacturing.

The most commonly used solutions were chatbots and text or document generators and optical character recognition tools, followed by voice generators or speech-to-text tools, image or video generators, and data analysis and prediction tools, the report added.

Despite the low investment growth, more than half (52%) of firms plan to broaden the range of AI tools they use, whilst 41% aim to extend applications to additional business areas in the coming year.

By sector, information and communications recorded the highest adoption rate (92%), followed by professional and business services (72%), financing and insurance (62%), and manufacturing (60%).

About three in four (75%) of SMEs that have already adopted AI expanded their use in 2025 compared to 2024.