Analysts warn AI boom stalls without clear productivity gains and ROI

At a recent DBS-organized panel in Singapore, Broadcom chief Hock Tan warned that enterprises are pouring money into generative AI without achieving tangible returns, comparing the practice to children squandering arcade cash. He was joined by Intel CEO Tan Lip-bu and DBS CEO Tan Su Shan, and the remarks coincided with a broader market pullback in AI-linked stocks. Senior economist Makoto Tsuchiya of Oxford Economics and MAS deputy director Edward Robinson stressed that while AI applications have spread quickly, they have yet to deliver significant productivity improvements across the economy.

Commentators such as Rakesh Kumar argued that hardware suppliers—dubbed the “picks and shovels” of the AI era—must see firms actually “hit gold” with the technology or risk declining sales. The panel also highlighted that expensive AI tools are being throttled, even by Microsoft, and that successful use cases are currently concentrated in financial services.