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Azeem Azhar's Exponential ViewAuthor: Azeem Azhar
How will the future unfold? What is the impact of AI and other exponential technologies on business & society? Join Azeem Azhar, founder of Exponential View, on his quest to demistify the era of exponential change. Language: en Genres: Business, Investing, Technology Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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Inside the $110 billion AI economy (and who is really paying for it)
Episode 42
Thursday, 22 October, 2026
The AI economy is real, substantial and growing three times faster than the internet, mobile phone or cloud computing. But is it sustainable?Our forensic analysis from June of this year of 1,000+ companies reveals that over $70 billion in revenue is coming from Main Street enterprise adoption, rather than loss-making labs or VC-funded startups.However, we’re still in the foothills: even as models get cheaper, corporate bills keep rising; and hyperscalers are only just covering the costs of the data center buildout, with margins still years away. In this Q&A about the state of the AI economy, I discuss:00:00 The AI economy is real00:35 Who’s really paying for AI, and how we checked02:53 Will AI infrastructure spending pay off?04:36 Creating a “Brent crude” for tokens05:47 Cheaper models, bigger bills06:38 What AI leaders spend per employee, and why it matters07:38 When a cheap open-source model is all you need08:30 Congestion: the biggest problem CEOs hit with AI09:49 What life looks like when intelligence is cheap10:54 Why it doesn’t matter who wins the AI race12:04 Is AI really making us stupid?13:24 China’s efficiency moatNote: this was recorded before our latest tracker update and the annualized run rate has since grown to $229 billion. For an updated measure of the AI economy, see sources below.📄 Full report: https://intelligence.exponentialview.co/📈 The latest revenue figure: https://www.investmentbrief.ai/p/ai-investment-brief-monday-3 About Exponential View:Welcome to Exponential View, where Azeem Azhar examines how exponential technologies such as AI are reshaping the future. Each week, Azeem shares his analysis or speaks with an expert guest to shed light on frontier shifts across technology, business and society.To keep up with the Exponential transition, subscribe to this channel or the newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/To keep up with our AI economy research, subscribe to https://www.investmentbrief.ai/ Where to find me:Exponential View newsletter: https://www.exponentialview.co/Website: https://www.azeemazhar.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azeem/Twitter/X: https://x.com/azeem Production by EPIIPLUS1.Production and research: Baba Films, Marija Gavrilov. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
