Corporate token spending growth collapses to 0.2%, Apollo warns compute demand may not be unlimited
SumitGup · x · 2026-10-21
Apollo chief economist Torsten Slok cites Ramp AI Index data showing corporate token spending growth decelerating sharply: from 58% YoY in Oct 2025 and 49% in Feb 2026 down to just 1% in Aug and 0.2% in Sep 2026.
His takeaway challenges Silicon Valley's core premise: "compute demand is assumed unlimited, yet the slowdown suggests this appetite may exist only when compute is effectively free" — a warning about the sustainability of the AI capex boom.
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