Shares of contract research organizations (CROs) have fallen due to fears that advances in artificial intelligence (artificial intelligence) could allow drugmakers to take clinical trial work in-house. However, industry experts believe this may overestimate the extent of AI can replace CROs' core capabilities. These include patient recruitment and global trial execution, which are difficult to replace due to the complexity of these services provided by CROs. Analysts estimate that even a fully AI-enabled clinical trial setup would only achieve only 10%–15% cost savings for drugmakers. However they argue that AI cannot replace laboratory testing required for drug safety and its use in direct patient care is limited by regulatory scrutiny and liability risks. Despite this, analysts believe AI could enhance CROs value by speeding up trials and improving efficiency.