AI Fails to Lift S&P 493 Profits, Apollo Economist Finds
Apollo economist Torsten Slok says AI has produced no profit or productivity gains for the S&P 493, despite massive investment across corporate America.
Summary
On October 25, 2026, Apollo Global Management chief economist Torsten Slok said AI had delivered no measurable bottom-line benefit to major corporations outside technology, despite massive investment and widespread hype. His “S&P 493” analysis removes Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla from the S&P 500. Among the remaining companies, profit margins and revenue per worker appear flat, providing no evidence that AI has increased productivity.
Slok doubts companies can convert increasingly cheap intelligence into faster revenue growth or wider profit margins. He says AI can calculate, but business depends largely on judgment, while systems do not understand accountability, trust, culture, unwritten rules, ethical tradeoffs or fairness, factors that shape reputational risk and financial performance. Recent studies likewise have not found significant AI productivity gains, leaving returns unproven for non-tech companies and their investors.
Positives
- AI intelligence is becoming increasingly cheap, reducing the cost of computational capability even as commercial returns remain unproven.
- AI remains a capable calculator, preserving practical utility for computational tasks despite its limited effect on corporate performance.
- Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla are excluded, limiting the zero-payoff finding to the other S&P 500 companies.
Risks & concerns
- Profit margins across the S&P 493 appear flat despite massive AI investment and widespread corporate hype.
- Revenue per worker shows no apparent improvement, undermining claims that AI is already increasing productivity.
- No measurable bottom-line benefit has emerged for major corporations outside the technology industry.
- AI lacks accountability, trust, cultural awareness, ethical judgment and an understanding of unwritten rules or fairness.
- Recent studies have also found no significant AI productivity gains, reinforcing doubts about near-term corporate returns.