Apollo Chief Economist Says AI AI Has Not Yet Generated Returns for U.S. Companies Outside the Technology Sector
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AT A GLANCE
Torsten Slok said that AI AI has not yet generated tangible returns for U.S. companies outside the technology sector and may squeeze profit margins.
Article
Apollo Chief Economist:AI Has Not Yet Generated Returns for U.S. Companies Outside the Technology Sector
PANews October 25 reported that Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, said that despite companies investing huge sums in artificial intelligence, AI has not yet generated any tangible returns for U.S. companies outside the technology sector. Slok wrote: “7 Revenue per employee at the megacap technology companies is growing, but this metric is flat for the other companies in the S&P 500 Index.”493 The same is true of corporate profit margins, with no signs so far that AI is driving productivity growth. Slok said: “Mainstream U.S. companies are shrinking their investments and beginning to view AI token-consumption spending as a cost center rather than a source of growth, because this spending is squeezing profit margins.” As earnings season gets underway, investors are closely watching companies’ AI spending and whether the related investments can deliver the expected returns. Last week, Meta was the first to announce results in the technology sector...
Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, said that companies have invested huge sums in artificial intelligence.
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Slok said that outside the technology sector, artificial intelligence has not yet generated any tangible returns for U.S. companies.
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Slok wrote that 7 revenue per employee at the megacap technology companies is growing, while this metric is flat for the other companies in the S&P 500 Index. 493
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Slok said that there is currently no sign that artificial intelligence is driving productivity growth.
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Slok said that mainstream U.S. companies are shrinking their investments and beginning to view AI token-consumption spending as a cost center.
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The article said that investors are watching companies’ AI spending and whether the related investments can deliver the expected returns.
AI-assisted interpretation
The following is analysis, separate from reported facts. Verify important claims independently.
This content relays Slok’s assessment: Although U.S. companies outside the technology giants have invested AI, revenue per employee, profit margins, and productivity have not yet shown clear improvement; some companies also view AI usage spending as a cost that compresses profits.
Why it matters to readers
If subsequent corporate disclosures still fail to demonstrate AI improvements in revenue, profit margins, or productivity, investors may reassess the value of AI investments by non-technology companies.
Beginners should understand this as an economist’s market observation, not AI a proven conclusion that is ineffective across all non-technology companies; they can continue to monitor AI spending and quantifiable returns in corporate earnings reports.
Risks and unknowns
The original article was truncated after mentioning Meta, so the full context and subsequent content cannot be confirmed.
The evidence does not provide specific data sources or statistical periods supporting the judgments about revenue per employee, profit margins, and productivity.
“Has not yet brought any actual returns” is Slock’s view; the evidence does not independently verify it.
It is not possible to confirm from the available content which mainstream U.S. companies are scaling back AI investment.
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revenue per employee
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