Some U.S. businesses are treating AI token use as a cost that pressures margins, Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management, said, as investors assess returns on corporate AI spending.
The gap appeared in two business measures, Slok said: revenue per employee and profit margins were unchanged for 493 S&P 500 companies, while both rose among the index’s seven technology giants. He said AI had yet to show up as a driver of productivity.
Slok said some businesses outside technology were reducing AI budgets and treating token consumption as an expense rather than a contributor to growth. Earnings reports give investors a chance to judge whether companies are getting returns from those budgets.
In an earlier assessment, Slok interpreted slower AI spending as evidence that buyers respond to compute prices; he said businesses might limit their use or move to cheaper models.
Ramp data showed token use rising despite flat spending among businesses using its Token Spend Management product in August and September. The figures cover a subset of Ramp’s customers. Ramp measured token volume and spending; Slok’s comparison examined revenue per employee and margins across S&P 500 companies.
