Apollo Global Management chief economist Torsten Slok said that despite heavy corporate AI spending, AI has so far produced no measurable returns for US firms outside the tech sector. He noted per-employee revenue is rising at the seven largest tech companies but flat across the other 493 S&P 500 firms, and profit margins show the same divergence, with no evidence AI is boosting productivity. Slok said mainstream US companies are cutting investment and treating AI token-consumption costs as a co

Apollo Global Management chief economist Torsten Slok said that despite heavy corporate AI spending, AI has so far produced no measurable returns for US firms outside the tech sector. He noted per-employee revenue is rising at the seven largest tech companies but flat across the other 493 S&P 500 firms, and profit margins show the same divergence, with no evidence AI is boosting productivity. Slok said mainstream US companies are cutting investment and treating AI token-consumption costs as a cost center rather than a growth driver, which is squeezing margins. As US earnings season opens, investors will watch corporate AI spending and whether it delivers promised payback. Last week Meta said it would further ramp AI bets and raise capex plans, prompting market jitters; Meta shares fell and its credit-risk measures hit record highs.