'Zero financial payoff': Apollo economist sees no AI benefit outside the tech giants
Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, finds no signs of higher productivity from artificial intelligence at large US companies outside the tech sector.
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Torsten Slok, chief economist at investment firm Apollo Global Management, examined the so-called "S&P 493" – the companies in the US S&P 500 index excluding Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla. His finding, according to TechCrunch: profit margins and revenue per worker are flat, and there is no evidence of an AI-driven productivity boost. The technology has delivered "zero financial payoff" to corporate America outside of tech, Slok writes.
Slok doubts that non-tech firms can turn "increasingly cheap intelligence" into higher revenue growth and higher profit margins. AI may be a great calculator, but in business intelligence is mostly judgement, he argues. AI does not understand accountability, trust, culture, unwritten rules, ethical trade-offs or fairness – factors that shape reputational risk and ultimately drive revenue growth and profit margins.
Other recent studies have also found no significant productivity gains from AI, TechCrunch writes. The outlet notes that Apollo formerly owned TechCrunch.