Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Stifel warn that AI buildout is currently inflationary, with hardware, software subscriptions, and electricity costs driving price pressures even as productivity gains remain elusive.

Goldman Sachs economist Manuel Abecasis estimated that AI-related price pressures have added roughly 0.3 percentage points to annual core PCE inflation and 0.1 percentage points to core CPI over the past year, with the same added pressure forecast over the next 12 months. Three separate channels are driving this: surging AI infrastructure demand has raised prices for digital memory and storage batteries, pushing computer and smartphone prices up roughly 10% this year; companies used AI feature upgrades to justify subscription hikes (Microsoft raised M365 personal by 30% in January 2025, Adobe raised Creative Cloud Photography by 50%, and Intuit hiked QuickBooks by 45% in August 2025); and data center power consumption rose U.S. electricity output 2.5% in 2024, 2.4% in 2025, and 3% year over year in March 2026, contributing to a 4.6% year-over-year rise in consumer electricity prices.

Goldman found no meaningful relationship between AI and economy-wide productivity as of March, although isolated gains of around 30% appeared on specific tasks where companies actively measured. An earlier Goldman analysis showed $700 billion in AI investment during 2025 contributed essentially zero to U.S. GDP growth. Johns Hopkins economist Steve Hanke told Fortune in April that AI 'didn't deliver' on its promised boom.

Gen Z's excitement about AI dropped 14 percentage points over the past year to just 22%, according to an April Gallup poll, while anger rose 9 points to 31%. Forty-four percent of Gen Z workers admit to actively sabotaging their company's AI rollout by entering proprietary data into public tools, refusing to use AI outright, or intentionally producing low-quality AI outputs.