ARTICLE
8 July 2026

The Impact of AI Tools on Transfer Pricing and Value Creation

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NERA

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As artificial intelligence transforms business operations, multinational enterprises face critical questions about where value is created when significant human functions are automated. This analysis examines how the arm's length principle should be applied to controlled transactions involving AI tool development and deployment, with particular focus on risk control functions and the attribution of AI investments across evolving value chains.
United States Tax
Vladimir Starkov, PhD, CPA’s articles from NERA are most popular:
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The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) tools forces us to reexamine fundamental transfer pricing questions: Where is the value being created and how should profits be allocated in a world in which significant people functions are becoming “less human”? In “The Impact of AI Tools on Transfer Pricing and Value Creation,” Managing Director Vladimir Starkov, Director Tom Braukmann, and Consultants Catarina Branco and Alexis Jin focus on addressing the practical question: How should the arm’s length principle be applied to controlled transactions that involve the development and use of AI tools by multinational enterprises (MNEs)?

The focus of this article is on MNEs that deploy AI to make their existing value chains more efficient, rather than on MNEs whose business is to develop or monetize the AI itself. The authors also explore how the evolving value chains can be analyzed to incorporate arm’s length remuneration for AI development and funding. Special emphasis is placed on the risk control function of AI investments, recognizing that while many such investments are expected to yield returns, some inevitably will not. This uncertainty makes the accurate attribution of these investments even more critical than in other cases involving the funding of intangibles. 

Published by Transfer Pricing Internation (TPI): https://shop.lindeverlag.at/zeitschrift/tpi-18

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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