Eight-five percent of US CEOs and business leaders are Artificial Intelligence (AI) optimists, according to a report by EY. 

Key findings include: 

• 87 percent of respondents are investing in AI initiatives this year.
• 47 percent see China as the biggest obstacle to the advancement of AI in the US.
• 52 percent ranked the US first when asked which country was leading the global AI race and 50 percent selected the US as the country with the best long-term AI strategy.
• 80 percent feel the US has the government that is most open to working with companies to adopt AI technology and 71 percent were in favor of uniform global regulation of AI, underscoring a need for countries to work together to develop ground rules for the technology.
• For respondents, employee trust (33 percent) is one of the greatest barriers to AI adoption even though 87 percent of CEOs and business leaders completely or somewhat trust the technology.
• 82 percent of respondents expect that their businesses will be disrupted by AI to some extent within the next three years.