Apollo economist: AI has delivered zero payoff outside tech

Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management — the private equity firm that previously owned TechCrunch — says AI has yet to move the bottom line for corporate America outside the tech sector. Stripping the seven largest tech companies out of the S&P 500 to form what he calls the S&P 493, Slok found that profit margins and worker revenue appear to be flat, with no sign of AI-driven productivity gains.

“Despite massive investments and widespread hype around artificial intelligence, the technology has delivered zero financial payoff to corporate America outside of tech,” Slok said, adding that it will be tough for non-tech firms to turn increasingly cheap AI into higher revenue growth and profit margins.

Slok argues judgment, not calculation, drives business results: AI can’t weigh trust, accountability, culture, fairness, unwritten norms or ethical trade-offs — the soft factors that ultimately shape reputational risk and profit. Other recent research reaches a similar verdict on productivity.

Why it matters

Slok’s note cuts against the premise that falling AI costs will automatically translate into higher corporate earnings, suggesting the productivity payoff many non-tech firms are counting on may not materialize on its own.