Apollo Economist Says AI Has Delivered Zero Financial Payoff for Most Large US Companies

Apollo Global Management chief economist Torsten Slok said in an October 2026 report that artificial intelligence has not yet delivered financial returns for large US corporations outside the technology sector. Analyzing what he calls the “S&P 493” — the S&P 500 excluding Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla — Slok found that profit margins and revenue per worker have been roughly flat, with no evidence that AI is improving productivity.

Slok noted that despite massive investment and widespread hype around AI, the technology has delivered zero financial payoff to corporate America outside of tech. He expressed skepticism that non-tech companies can turn increasingly cheap intelligence into higher revenue growth and higher profit margins, adding that AI may be a good calculator but business intelligence is mostly judgment. According to Slok, AI does not understand accountability, trust, culture, unwritten rules, ethical trade-offs or fairness, all of which shape reputational risk and ultimately drive revenue growth and profit margins.