by Coinstrooper Crypto Articles
Quick Take
  • Just 1% of firms drive 80% of AI spending on OpenAI and Anthropic, according to corporate card company Ramp.
  • Growth in that spending has nearly stalled for two months, leaving the boom leaning on a few customers.
  • Per-employee spending by that top 1% hit $9,568 in September, up 11.7% on the month but 3.1% below July’s peak.
  • Ramp lead economist Ara Kharazian attributes the slowdown mainly to falling prices for top models.

What Happened

Just 1% of firms drive 80% of AI spending on OpenAI and Anthropic, according to corporate card company Ramp. Growth in that spending has nearly stalled for two months, leaving the boom leaning on a few customers.

What Happens to AI Spending If Startups Pull Back?

Ramp tracks how American businesses pay for AI. However, it cautions that its top 1% estimate is volatile because few firms sit in that group.

Market Context

Per-employee spending by that top 1% hit $9,568 in September, up 11.7% on the month but 3.1% below July’s peak. Ramp lead economist Ara Kharazian attributes the slowdown mainly to falling prices for top models.

Tokens, the billing units for AI models, kept rising in volume. Yet spending on them barely grew in August and September, Ramp reports.

Meanwhile, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin issued a chip glut warning. He told Bloomberg that oversupply of graphics processing units (GPUs) could force chip prices down.

Goldman Sachs estimates AI capital spending drives about half of S&P 500 earnings growth. It has steered AI-wary clients toward defensive stock picks in health care and consumer staples.

Why It Matters

Rooney said rate pressure or a shut initial public offering (IPO) window would mean less venture funding. In that case, the effects could run from model makers to cloud providers and then to chipmakers.

Details

Economist Brad DeLong adds that Ramp’s customers skew toward tech, and its data misses free tools.

CNBC reporter Kate Rooney said roughly 80% of those top spenders are venture-backed.

How Exposed Are Portfolios to a Top-Heavy AI Boom?

Asset manager Apollo has also flagged that AI spending growth has stalled.

The counterargument is that demand has not vanished. Still, paid AI adoption reached 55.9% of Ramp businesses in September, Kharazian wrote. Rooney said the bull case needs that use to spread to grocers and consumer companies.

Similarly, concentration shows up in the index. The 15 largest stocks hold a record 46.7% share of the S&P 500, The Kobeissi Letter reported. That compares with 27.2% at the 2000 dot-com peak.

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