AI investments have not produced measurable financial returns for large U.S. corporations outside the technology sector, according to an analysis by Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management.
Slok examined what he calls the “S&P 493”—the S&P 500 index excluding Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla—and found profit margins and revenue per worker remain flat with no evidence of AI-driven productivity improvements, TechCrunch reported October 25.
“Despite massive investments and widespread hype around artificial intelligence, the technology has delivered zero financial payoff to corporate America outside of tech,” Slok said in the note.
Slok expressed skepticism that non-tech companies will catch up to technology giants, arguing it will be difficult for corporate America to “turn increasingly cheap intelligence into higher revenue growth and higher profit margins.” He cited limitations in AI’s capacity for business judgment: “AI may be a great calculator, but in business, intelligence is mostly judgment,” adding that AI “does not understand accountability, trust, culture, unwritten rules, ethical trade-offs or fairness, all of which shape reputational risk and ultimately drive revenue growth and profit margins.”
The findings align with recent studies showing AI has yet to deliver significant productivity gains across the broader economy.