It’s difficult to grasp the scale of the AI boom, but the revenue figures from its biggest players offer a clue. As of early 2026, OpenAI and Anthropic were on a combined annualized revenue run rate of over $40 billion, up from virtually zero in 2022, per reporting from Alex Kantrowitz. This staggering growth is fueling—and being fueled by—a massive capital investment cycle that is reshaping the tech landscape.
As Ben Thompson rightly predicted, the primary beneficiaries are the integrated tech giants who can afford the immense capex and already have the data and distribution. Meta, in particular, has become a case study in leveraging AI. The company is funneling the phenomenal cash flow from its ad business directly into AI infrastructure, as Thompson noted. This investment is paying off, making its ad platform the “principal beneficiary of AI abundance,” according to another Thompson receipt. For advertisers, the result is a suite of tools that automates optimization, targeting, and creative, making it “easier than ever for advertisers to get good results without needing large teams or agencies” (Ben Thompson).
Meanwhile, in the agency world, the response seems more measured. Ari Paparo noted in early 2024 that holding company AI spending—in the low hundreds of millions—is hardly what you’d expect for an industry on the verge of being “wickedly disrupted.” This disruption is expected to come from the automation of data-rich, repetitive tasks like media optimization and attribution. As Paparo argues, this will likely lead to smaller agencies, as “lower value-add activities will be eliminated, automated, or in-housed” (Ari Paparo). Even major advertisers like P&G’s Marc Pritchard are looking to AI to “exponentially turbocharge” marketing by moving to more continuous, DTC-style processes.
**What we’re watching:** The gap between the AI haves and have-nots appears to be widening. All eyes are on the agency holding companies to see if their investment levels will ramp up to match the scale of the technological shift. We’re also tracking the pace at which AI-driven automation hollows out traditional, lower-value agency services.