A report indicates that the AI investment boom in the US is widening the gap between corporate profits and employee wages, with workers seeing stagnation in their incomes.
A report from Axios outlines the current investment boom driven by artificial intelligence in the United States, highlighting that while companies are reaping significant economic gains, a large portion of these benefits is not being passed down to workers. Job opportunities have become scarce, and employee wages have not been increasing at the previous pace, further entrenching income inequality.
According to the report authored by Neil Irwin, the disconnection between strong economic growth and relatively poor outcomes for workers is a complex and ongoing issue that is projected to continue into 2026. It notes that this trend is not new, as the share of national income going to workers has been declining significantly since the 1980s, while the share going to capital has markedly increased. This historical context sheds light on the long-standing structural issues affecting wage growth and worker compensation in the face of advancing technology.
Irwin also points out that there are both technological and structural reasons behind this trend. The current boom in artificial intelligence is expected to exacerbate this situation. The uneven distribution of economic gains helps to explain why public sentiment remains pessimistic about the economy, despite positive overall data, and why Americans are concerned about the future of the job market, as many view these trends as detrimental to their financial security and economic prospects.
