[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"branding":3,"analytics":7,"article-ai-pays-big-tech-not-the-other-493-sp-500-firms-apollo-says":10,"sections":34},{"siteName":4,"siteTagline":5,"publisherName":4,"contactEmail":6},"The Revision","Tech news, decoded.","editor@therevision.news",{"gaMeasurementId":8,"adsenseClientId":9},"G-ZW2MV82GYR","ca-pub-8533917693782264",{"article":11},{"id":12,"slug":13,"title":14,"dek":15,"body_md":16,"tags_json":17,"published_at":18,"created_at":19,"updated_at":20,"status":21,"review_note":22,"review_notes":23,"image_url":22,"persona_id":22,"persona_name":22,"section":24,"tags":25,"sources":29,"feedback":33,"feedback_at":22,"cost_usd":33,"total_tokens":33},12363,"ai-pays-big-tech-not-the-other-493-sp-500-firms-apollo-says","AI Pays Big Tech, Not the Other 493 S&P 500 Firms, Apollo Says","An Apollo economist finds margins rising at the Magnificent Seven and flat elsewhere, as token bills turn AI into a cost center for everyone else.","AI spending is making money for the companies that sell it, and an Apollo economist says the companies that buy it have little to show so far.\n\nTorsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, said on October 24 that revenue per worker and profit margins are rising at the Magnificent Seven tech stocks. Across the other 493 companies in the S&P 500, both are flat. He found no clear evidence that AI is lifting productivity growth. \"The technology has delivered zero financial payoff to corporate America outside of tech,\" he wrote.\n\nPart of the problem is how AI is billed. Many providers charge by the token, a small chunk of text the model reads or writes, so costs climb as employees send more requests and AI agents take on longer tasks. Slok said mainstream companies increasingly see token spending as a cost center, not a growth engine. Venture-backed firms are spending more, he noted, but established companies have little reason to pay for the newest model if a cheaper one does the job. Microsoft, Meta and Amazon have already moved to rein in internal AI usage, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has called token costs a \"huge issue\" for customers.\n\nThe arithmetic is uncomfortable for sellers. One company's AI revenue is another's operating expense, and it only holds if the buyer sees gains in productivity, sales or costs. Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft have committed enormous sums to data centers, chips and power, a bet that depends on customers keeping the meter running.\n\nA PwC India survey of fintech firms shows the same gap: 84% of respondents had not yet seen measurable financial results from AI, though 48% still named proprietary intelligence a leading strategic priority. Spending is running ahead of proof.\n\nThere is a fair caveat. An index-wide average is a blunt tool, and flat margins do not show what margins would have been without AI. Slok himself notes that adoption is concentrated in a small group of firms, so the other 493 may simply be early. It also echoes an older pattern: in 1987, economist Robert Solow remarked that computers were visible everywhere except in the productivity statistics.\n\nThe sharper question is what happens if cost pressure works. If buyers shift to cheaper models to protect margins, the revenue that supports the Magnificent Seven's AI results shrinks with it.","[\"ai\",\"token-costs\",\"productivity\",\"big-tech\"]","2026-10-25T15:25:40.000Z","2026-10-25T16:14:45.498Z","2026-10-25T16:14:45.832Z","published",null,[],"ai",[24,26,27,28],"token-costs","productivity","big-tech",[30],{"name":31,"url":32},"Tom's Hardware","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.tomshardware.com\u002Ftech-industry\u002Fartificial-intelligence\u002Fbig-tech-is-cashing-in-on-ai-while-the-rest-of-corporate-america-sees-no-financial-returns-report-outlines-how-rising-token-costs-threaten-to-squeeze-corporate-profit-margins",0,{"sections":35},[36,39,44,49,54,59,64,69,74,79,84,89,94,99],{"name":37,"slug":24,"count":38,"latest_published_at":18},"AI",7083,{"name":40,"slug":41,"count":42,"latest_published_at":43},"Security","security",1066,"2026-10-25T11:30:00.000Z",{"name":45,"slug":46,"count":47,"latest_published_at":48},"Policy","policy",586,"2026-10-25T11:44:53.000Z",{"name":50,"slug":51,"count":52,"latest_published_at":53},"Deals","deals",572,"2026-10-25T14:31:28.000Z",{"name":55,"slug":56,"count":57,"latest_published_at":58},"Consumer Tech","consumer-tech",300,"2026-10-25T15:18:08.000Z",{"name":60,"slug":61,"count":62,"latest_published_at":63},"Hardware","hardware",294,"2026-10-23T20:00:00.000Z",{"name":65,"slug":66,"count":67,"latest_published_at":68},"Science","science",218,"2026-10-23T22:48:25.000Z",{"name":70,"slug":71,"count":72,"latest_published_at":73},"Startups","startups",148,"2026-10-23T16:26:29.000Z",{"name":75,"slug":76,"count":77,"latest_published_at":78},"Software","software",144,"2026-10-25T04:58:09.000Z",{"name":80,"slug":81,"count":82,"latest_published_at":83},"Dev Tools","dev-tools",122,"2026-10-21T16:00:00.000Z",{"name":85,"slug":86,"count":87,"latest_published_at":88},"General","general",102,"2026-10-24T15:34:10.000Z",{"name":90,"slug":91,"count":92,"latest_published_at":93},"Gaming","gaming",88,"2026-10-22T22:25:33.000Z",{"name":95,"slug":96,"count":97,"latest_published_at":98},"Reviews","reviews",38,"2026-10-20T12:00:00.000Z",{"name":100,"slug":101,"count":102,"latest_published_at":103},"How-To","how-to",8,"2026-10-05T09:00:00.000Z"]