Sam Altman has revealed that one question continues to dominate conversations with business leaders investing heavily in artificial intelligence. They want to know where the real financial returns are. Speaking during a live interview with Matt Comyn at a Commonwealth Bank AI event, Altman said many companies feel their employees are becoming more productive with AI tools, yet executives are still struggling to see meaningful revenue growth or measurable productivity gains. His comments come as corporations worldwide continue pouring billions into AI infrastructure, data centres and software despite growing scepticism over whether the technology is delivering the economic transformation many expected.
Sam Altman Admits AI Concerns
During the discussion, Altman said the most common negative feedback he hears from companies centres on rising costs without obvious business outcomes. According to Altman, CEOs frequently tell him that spending on AI “is going up and up” while asking where the actual revenue and productivity gains are. The remarks highlight a growing tension in the corporate world as businesses race to adopt generative AI tools while still trying to understand how to integrate them effectively into everyday operations.
Altman acknowledged that the criticism is understandable. He said AI remains a very new technology and argued companies still need time to learn how to restructure workflows and operations around these systems. Altman also admitted he expected artificial intelligence to have a stronger economic effect by now. Despite rapid advances in large language models and AI assistants, he said translating those technological breakthroughs into broad economic growth has proven more difficult than anticipated.
He noted that while current AI systems are extremely capable, turning those capabilities into measurable efficiency and revenue gains across industries is taking longer than many in the tech sector predicted. However, Altman stressed that he would become more concerned only if companies are still asking the same questions a year from now.
Studies Continue to Show Limited Productivity Gains from AI
Altman’s comments arrive amid increasing debate over whether AI hype has outpaced real-world business results. Several recent studies have suggested that many companies are still not seeing dramatic productivity improvements from AI adoption. A National Bureau of Economic Research survey of 6,000 executives across the US, UK, Australia and Germany reportedly found that 90 per cent saw no meaningful productivity impact from AI tools. Meanwhile, a Goldman Sachs research note earlier this year stated there is still no strong economy-wide evidence linking AI adoption to productivity growth. Even so, investment in the sector continues to surge as technology firms, chipmakers and cloud computing companies expand their AI operations.
Australia Could Become a Global AI Infrastructure Hub
During the interview, Altman also spoke about Australia’s growing role in the AI industry. He argued the country has the natural resources and clean energy capacity needed to become one of the world’s leading data centre hubs. The OpenAI chief said Australia could become a major supplier of low-cost AI computing power, particularly as global demand for AI infrastructure continues to rise. His comments align with broader industry efforts to expand data centre capacity across the Asia-Pacific region. Altman added that demand for affordable and high-quality AI intelligence appears “effectively uncapped”, suggesting the need for AI infrastructure could continue growing for years.
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