Who Will Solve the AI Productivity Puzzle?

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Summary

Despite widespread adoption, generative AI has not yielded sustained productivity growth, leading OpenAI and Anthropic to launch private-equity-backed consulting ventures for enterprise integration.

Generative AI tools have been widely available for several years now, but productivity growth has little sustained improvement, because firms have yet to convert task-level time savings into measurable economic output. Is the most effective solution to overhaul existing companies—or to bypass them altogether?
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# Who Will Solve the AI Productivity Puzzle? Source: [https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/why-ai-hasnt-yielded-productivity-growth-by-robin-rivaton-2026-05](https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/why-ai-hasnt-yielded-productivity-growth-by-robin-rivaton-2026-05) enEnglish [Innovation](https://www.project-syndicate.org/section/innovation-technology)Generative AI tools have been widely available for several years now, but productivity growth has little sustained improvement, because firms have yet to convert task\-level time savings into measurable economic output\. Is the most effective solution to overhaul existing companies—or to bypass them altogether? PARIS—Last week, OpenAI and Anthropic both announced that they will launch private\-equity\-backed consulting businesses to push their models into the workflows of mid\-market companies\. With backing from Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, and Goldman Sachs, Anthropic is reportedly raising $1\.5 billion for the venture, whereas OpenAI[has reportedly raised](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-04/openai-finalizes-10-billion-joint-venture-with-pe-firms-to-deploy-ai)$4 billion from 19 investors—led by TPG, Brookfield, and Bain—at a $10 billion valuation\.

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