Business · Companies · 7 hrs ago
Apollo Economist Says AI Has Yet to Pay Off for Most US Companies
Apollo chief economist Torsten Slok says AI has brought no financial payoff to US companies outside the biggest technology firms.
He examined the S&P 500 excluding Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla, and found profit margins and revenue per worker were flat.
Those seven technology companies have seen improvement in those measures, but Slok says the rest of the index has not.
He argues that businesses may struggle to turn AI into higher sales or profits because business decisions depend on human judgment, including context, trust and accountability.
Slok also says uncertain returns could limit demand for computing power, which companies need to justify spending on AI services and data centers.
Whether AI delivers stronger returns remains unclear, and the sources do not describe a specific next step.
Apollo chief economist Torsten Slok says most U.S. companies outside the largest technology firms have yet to see financial gains from AI.
He says profit margins and revenue per worker across the S&P 493 appear flat, with no evidence that AI is improving productivity.
Slok argues that companies will struggle to turn cheaper AI into higher revenue or profits because business decisions depend on judgment and context.
His warnings come amid doubts on Wall Street about AI demand and the scale of planned spending on data centers.
- Who
- Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management.
- What
- He says AI has delivered no financial payoff to most U.S. companies outside the major technology firms.
- When
- The reports were published October 24 and 25, 2026; Slok issued related notes during the preceding week.
- Where
- The United States, including companies in the S&P 500.
- Why
- Slok says there is little evidence that AI is raising revenue, profits, or productivity for most firms.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Slok pointed to a slowdown in token spending growth and said demand for compute was flat and sensitive to price changes.
Slok warned about circularity in token spending and said many top AI spenders were backed by venture capital.
Slok said AI had delivered zero financial payoff to U.S. companies outside the big hyperscalers.
Fortune published an account of Slok’s warnings about AI demand, returns, and spending.
TechCrunch reported Slok’s assessment of AI’s financial payoff for companies outside tech.
- Economist
- Torsten Slok
- Company
- Apollo Global Management
- S&P 493
- S&P 500 minus Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla
- AI spending
- 80% of the top 1% of AI spenders are VC-backed, according to Slok
- Hyperscaler spending
- Estimated $800 billion this year
- Meta spending
- Planned $135 billion-$145 billion this year
3 sources
What people are saying
Despite massive investments and widespread hype around artificial intelligence, the technology has delivered zero financial payoff to corporate America outside of tech,
The core economic flaw in the AI bull case is that the marginal cost of producing compute exceeds the marginal benefit it delivers to users, raising questions about claims of unlimited demand for data centers,
AI may be a great calculator, but in business, intelligence is mostly judgment,
Maybe that will come in the future. Maybe not,