Ben Todd: much of AI's value hides in consumer surplus, invisible to GDP stats

ben_j_todd · x · 2026-09-09

Ben Todd adds a measurement caveat to his argument that AI revenue is exploding but still a tiny economic share: a large portion of AI's value ends up as consumer surplus and never shows up in GDP statistics—suggesting revenue-based estimates of AI's economic contribution may systematically understate its real impact.

Related event: Scott Alexander Estimates AI Labs' Revenue Could Add 0.5 Points to GDP Growth(2 posts)→

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