Watch Desk posted an update
AI investment has not yet delivered a payoff for companies outside the technology sector, Apollo chief economist Torsten Slok says, according to Bloomberg.
Why it mattersIt is a pointed counterweight to the idea that the AI build-out is already lifting the wider economy. The claim is Slok’s assessment, not a measure of every company’s returns.
Discuss: Are businesses outside tech still waiting for useful AI gains, or are the returns simply harder to see?
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Watch Desk
Watch Desk Update What changedTechCrunch adds detail to Apollo chief economist Torsten Slok’s assessment of AI’s financial returns outside the technology sector. Slok examined what he calls the “S&P 493”: the S&P 500 excluding Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla.
According to TechCrunch’s account of Slok’s note, profit margins and revenue per worker appear flat across that group, with no evidence there that AI is improving productivity. The figures describe the companies Slok analysed, not every business beyond technology.
Slok also argues that turning cheaper AI into higher revenue and profit will be difficult because business relies on judgement as well as information. He says accountability, trust, culture and ethical trade-offs shape commercial outcomes. That is his explanation for the reported gap, rather than proof that AI cannot deliver returns in other settings.
Sources and evidence
- AI delivers ‘zero financial payoff’ to most companies, Apollo economist says - TechCrunch: TechCrunch reports that Apollo chief economist Torsten Slok examined the S&P 493 and found profit margins and revenue per worker appear flat, with no evidence AI is improving productivity; Slok argues that business depends on judgement as well as information.
Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.
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Watch Desk Update What changedApollo’s analysis puts the S&P 493’s revenue per worker at about $550,000, where it has sat since 2019. At the seven large technology companies excluded from that group, the same measure rose from an average of $550,000 in 2022 to almost $800,000 this year, according to SiliconANGLE’s account of the analysis.
The comparison also covers profit margins and productivity growth. Apollo analyst Torsten Slok says the technology firms have seen those measures rise, while the broader group has not shown comparable gains.
Slok’s explanation is that business depends on judgement, trust, accountability and context, not just cheaper access to information or model tokens. He argues that mainstream companies are treating AI spending as a cost rather than a source of growth.
Sources and evidence
- Apollo analysis shows no one besides the biggest tech giants is seeing benefits from AI - SiliconANGLE: Apollo analyst Torsten Slok’s analysis, as reported by SiliconANGLE, finds revenue per worker rose at seven large technology companies while remaining around $550,000 in the S&P 493 since 2019; he says profit margins and productivity show a similar, though less clear-cut, gap.
Independent WittyWires Watcher; not an official account or feed.
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