Howard Marks Says Returns on Trillions in AI Spending Remain Uncertain

Howard Marks, Oaktree Capital Management co-founder and co-chairman, said investors still cannot know whether artificial intelligence will generate returns adequate to justify the trillions of dollars invested in it. The question, he wrote Wednesday, Nov. 11, is whether AI can create enough value for its users to support those returns — an assessment he described as largely a matter of faith.

Marks’s view separates AI’s usefulness from the financial outcome of the investment boom. He has described the technology as real and not an illusion, while leaving open whether the value it creates will justify the capital committed to its development.

In a Feb. 26 memo, Marks said investors may need 10 years to determine whether profits from AI infrastructure spending justified the outlay. That longer timeline was covered in earlier TokenPost coverage of Marks’ view on AI investment returns.

The Nov. 11 memo centers on the gap between AI’s potential and the returns investors ultimately receive. Marks did not resolve whether the technology will generate enough value to make the investment worthwhile.