Apollo Chief Economist: AI Dividends Currently Accrue Only to Tech Companies

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Cailian Press, Huang Junzhi, Editor-in-Charge Lin Qi, 2026-10-26 10:12

① Apollo Chief Economist Torsten Slok pointed out that artificial intelligence has not brought benefits to the earnings of any large enterprises outside the technology sector; ② He believes that it is difficult for American companies to "translate increasingly cheap intelligence into higher revenue growth and higher profit margins."

Cailian Press, October 26 (Editor Huang Junzhi) Apollo Chief Economist Torsten Slok pointed out in his latest report that artificial intelligence (AI) has not brought benefits to the earnings of any large enterprises outside the technology sector.

He pointed out that although the "Magnificent Seven" tech giants, including Nvidia and Meta, have achieved revenue growth amid the AI boom, other industries have not shared in this growth dividend. In other words, only the tech giants are currently reaping the benefits of the AI boom.

Slok focused on what he calls the S&P 493 index—that is, the constituents of the S&P 500 excluding Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla—and found that profit margins and revenue per employee appear to be flat, with no evidence that artificial intelligence is raising productivity.

"Despite the enormous investment and intense hype surrounding artificial intelligence, outside the technology sector this technology has not brought any economic returns to American businesses. Mainstream American companies are cutting back on spending and beginning to view Token spending as a cost center that drags down profit margins rather than a source of growth," he wrote.

Slok focused his analysis on three main indicators: revenue per employee, profit margin and productivity growth. These indicators have surged for technology companies, but not for ordinary companies.

Specifically, the report said that since 2022, revenue per employee at technology companies has soared, from $550,000 to nearly $800,000 at present. At the same time, this indicator for other companies in the S&P 500 has changed little, hovering around $550,000 for the past seven years.

Moreover, since 2022, profit margins at technology companies have climbed sharply, while profit margins at other companies have stagnated, remaining at around 10%.

Slok further asked whether this is simply a matter of non-tech companies lagging behind the tech giants. He is skeptical of this, believing that it is difficult for American companies to "translate increasingly cheap intelligence into higher revenue growth and higher profit margins."

"Artificial intelligence may be a great calculator, but in business, intelligence is primarily a form of judgment," he wrote, later adding, "AI does not understand accountability, trust, culture, unwritten rules, moral trade-offs or fairness, all of which affect reputational risk and ultimately drive revenue growth and profit margins."

As the earnings season gets under way, investors are closely watching corporate AI spending and whether the related investments can deliver the expected returns.

Last week, Meta was the first to disclose developments related to the technology sector's earnings, saying it plans to bet more aggressively on artificial intelligence and to raise its capital expenditure plans. This statement triggered market unease, causing Meta's stock price to fall and its credit risk indicators to rise to a record high.

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Cailian Press Statement: The content of this article is for reference only and does not constitute investment advice. Investors who act on it do so at their own risk.

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