Goldman Sachs estimates that artificial intelligence has added approximately $160 billion to the US "true GDP" since 2022. However, this growth isn't fully reflected in official GDP numbers due to limitations in current economic metrics. The official GDP calculation only accounts for $45 billion, or 0.2%, of US GDP since 2022, reflecting about 0.1 percentage points of annual growth.
The discrepancy between the estimated and official numbers is largely due to the challenges in capturing the economic value of AI-driven innovations. For instance, cloud AI investments, automation benefits, and free AI tools like open-source algorithms and pre-trained models are not fully accounted for in GDP calculations.
This underestimation may distort policy decisions and company valuations, as it fails to accurately gauge AI's actual economic impact. The Goldman Sachs report highlights the need for updated frameworks to capture the true value of AI-driven growth and its potential to shape the future of the US economy.
