Investors are increasingly voting with their wallets for companies they believe will become the main beneficiaries of artificial intelligence adoption. And this is not just speculation—a large-scale study based on the analysis of 380 trillion tokens (AI requests) has identified a persistent phenomenon that economists have dubbed the "AI premium."
How the "AI Premium" Was Measured
Scientists from leading universities developed a special indicator—the "AI factor." This tool weekly tracks changes in global neural network consumption by analyzing data from the OpenRouter platform from January 2024 to April 2026. The dataset covers over 400 models (GPT, Claude, DeepSeek) and reflects about 2% of global monthly AI consumption.
The researchers then divided public companies into two groups: those whose stocks are sensitive to the rise in AI popularity, and those indifferent to it. The result was telling: stocks in the first group yield investors an average of 0.64% more per week. This figure may seem modest, but in the long term, it creates a massive gap in returns.
Key Findings: Who and Where Benefits
The most interesting part is that this is not just a story about tech giants. The "AI premium" has extended far beyond the IT sector. Retailers, consumer goods manufacturers, and even heavy industry enterprises demonstrate higher returns. The market is betting not on those who have already implemented AI, but on those who, in investors' opinion, have the highest potential for future labor productivity growth.
The second important aspect is geography. The bulk of the premium is concentrated in the US and Europe, where advanced data centers and model developers are located. In China and emerging markets, this effect is significantly weaker. The market rewards proximity to the technological hub.
Finally, the user structure. Contrary to expectations, the driving force behind the premium is not millions of ordinary users of free versions, but the professional segment. It is complex, lengthy queries and paid subscriptions that generate the added value that the market factors into stock prices.
My comment: The "AI premium" is a clear example of how the market revalues assets based on expectations rather than current performance. Investors are now buying not so much a product as a belief in business transformation. This creates both enormous opportunities for early entry and risks of overheating if expectations are not met as quickly.