{
  "id": 9241256,
  "title": "Containerisation explains why AI investment may continue even without returns",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/23/containerisation-explains-why-ai-investment-may-continue-even-without",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-09-23T01:30:49.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "e27",
    "slug": "e27",
    "url": "https://e27.co/containerisation-explains-why-ai-investment-may-continue-even-without-returns-20260916/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "A recent Boston Consulting Group study revealed that 94 percent of organizations intend to continue investing in AI, even if it fails to yield returns by 2026. At first glance, this seems illogical, as companies typically invest expecting a financial return. However, there's another type of investment. Companies may invest because a competitor has altered industry economics, and not following would make them uncompetitive. This concept can be illustrated by the history of containerisation. In 1956, Malcom McLean's accountants discovered that loading loose cargo onto a conventional ship cost $5.83 per ton, while loading an Ideal-X container cost merely 15.8 cents per ton. Once ports started investing in this new system, other ports had to follow to remain competitive. The benefits of this infrastructure investment eventually trickled down to customers and consumers rather than the companies making the investment. This phenomenon can be applied to AI spending. While containerisation was a significant leap in logistics, AI has the unique ability to alter the cost of a company's recurring input: cognitive labour. The cost of achieving a fixed level of AI capability is rapidly decreasing. AI can create a competitive pressure that forces companies to keep investing in AI, even if the returns may not be significant for every company adopting it. As AI becomes more widespread, companies will continuously seek to stay ahead of the curve by adopting newer and more efficient AI systems. This could result in AI investment becoming a recurring process of competitive reconfiguration rather than a one-time technology upgrade.",
  "summary": "Boston Consulting Group recently found that 94 per cent of organisations planned to keep investing in AI even if it did not deliver returns in 2026. At first glance, that sounds irrational. Companies normally invest because they expect a financial return. If the return is not appearing, investment should slow. But there is another kind […] The post Containerisation explains why AI investment may…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}