Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, concluded in a research note that artificial intelligence has delivered zero financial payoff to corporate America outside the technology sector, TechCrunch reported on October 25.
Slok examined the S&P 493, which is the S&P 500 index with seven companies removed: Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla. Within that group, profit margins and revenue per worker are flat, and his data shows no sign that AI is raising productivity. The excluded seven include several of the largest builders and sellers of AI models, chips and cloud infrastructure, so the split separates the technology names from the remaining companies that adopt AI as customers. Profit margins and revenue per worker are the two measures he used to test for productivity gains.
Slok also addressed the outlook. He doubts that non-tech companies can convert inexpensive AI capability into faster revenue growth and higher profit margins. In his view, business intelligence is mostly judgment, and AI does not grasp accountability, trust, culture, unwritten rules, ethical trade-offs or fairness. Those factors shape reputational risk and ultimately influence revenue and margins.
TechCrunch noted that other recent studies have also found AI has yet to produce significant productivity gains. Apollo Global Management is a private equity firm that formerly owned TechCrunch.
Source: TechCrunch - https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/25/ai-delivers-zero-financial-payoff-to-most-companies-according-to-apollo-economist/