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Apollo Economist Finds No AI Profit Boost for Corporate America Outside Big Tech
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Artificial intelligence has yet to improve the bottom line of major U.S. corporations outside the technology sector, according to Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management. Slok examined the S&P 493—the S&P 500 excluding Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla. He found flat profit margins and revenue per worker, with no evidence that AI is lifting productivity.
Despite heavy investment in AI tools and widespread corporate hype, non-tech companies have not reported a measurable financial payoff. Slok doubted that those firms are simply trailing the tech giants in adoption. He said it will be difficult for corporate America to convert increasingly cheap intelligence into stronger revenue growth and higher margins.
Slok said AI may function as a powerful calculator, but business intelligence depends largely on judgment. He argued that the technology lacks an understanding of accountability, trust, culture, unwritten rules, ethical trade-offs and fairness. Those factors shape reputational risk and ultimately drive revenue and profitability, he said.
His findings echo recent studies indicating that AI has so far failed to deliver significant productivity gains across the broader economy. The lack of visible improvement comes after months of aggressive spending on AI infrastructure, software and talent. That gap raises questions about when, or whether, those outlays will translate into earnings.
The distinction matters because the S&P 493 represents a large share of U.S. corporate activity outside Big Tech. If AI adoption is not yet lifting margins or output per worker, the near-term case for rapid economy-wide transformation may be weaker than advertised. Slok’s skepticism also suggests that human judgment remains central to commercial success.
The note adds to debate over AI’s financial returns. Companies continue investing heavily, but evidence of economy-wide productivity gains remains elusive. Future earnings data will show whether non-tech firms eventually close the gap.
