AI delivers ‘zero financial payoff’ to most companies, Apollo economist says

Apollo Global Management chief economist Torsten Slok said artificial intelligence has delivered “zero financial payoff” to large U.S. companies outside the technology sector. In a recent note, Slok examined the “S&P 493,” defined as the S&P 500 excluding Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. He found that profit margins and revenue per worker appear flat, with no evidence that AI is improving productivity across those companies. Slok said massive AI investment and widespread adoption have not translated into higher revenue growth or profit margins for corporate America beyond major technology firms. He questioned whether non-tech companies can convert increasingly inexpensive AI capabilities into financial gains, arguing that business performance depends heavily on judgment rather than intelligence alone. Slok said AI does not understand accountability, trust, organizational culture, unwritten rules, ethical trade-offs, or fairness. He argued that those factors shape reputational risk and ultimately affect revenue growth and profit margins. Recent studies have also found that AI has not yet produced significant productivity gains.