Goldman Sachs says AI spending understates true costs and benefits, as non-hardware investments in software and workflow reorganization parallel capex spending.

Goldman Sachs economists noted that capex on data centers and infrastructure reached $400 billion last year and is projected at $700 billion this year, while equivalent non-hardware spending on intangible capital such as workflow reorganization and software is ramping up in parallel.

Non-hardware investments are typically recorded as pure cost rather than investment, masking productivity gains from AI deployment.

Amazon staff are apparently using the company's in-house AI agent for unnecessary tasks to inflate usage scores, according to the Financial Times.