Trends & Emerging TechnologyFeatured
AI Spillovers Still Favor Hardware: AI Software Startups Need to Watch Revenue and Output per Employee
Storage information
Bookmarks and reading positions are stored in this browser. Manage and back them up in My Reading.
Collected in Robin Shen’s Field Notes · Content type and attribution are shown above
English translation of the Chinese post originally published 2024-03-28. Translated 2026-10-31 with AI assistance. Historical figures and claims have not been updated or independently verified. 中文原文
Reading guide
Returning to his post a few days earlier, Robin’s personal impression is that Taiwan receives the most pronounced AI spillover benefits, measured as additional output attributable to AI divided by population. Yet those benefits remain concentrated in hardware, including semiconductors, servers, thermal-management components, and power infrastructure. AI software and applications have not taken off. Outside the United States, however, they generally have not made an obvious revenue contribution in other countries either. Robin emphasizes that AI software startups need to focus on revenue, its growth trend, and output per employee to attract extremely expensive AI software engineers and scientists.
Key points
- Robin’s personal impression: Taiwan sees the most pronounced AI spillover effects; not a statistical finding.
- Benefits remain in hardware; AI software and applications have not taken off.
- Outside the United States, AI software applications generally have not made an obvious revenue contribution.
- AI software startups need to watch revenue, revenue growth, and output per employee to attract costly talent.
Full text — English translation
These articles are personal notes, book excerpts, and collected reprints. Figures and events reflect the time of the original publication, are not current information, and do not constitute investment advice.
DISCUSSION
Reader comments
What did this article make you think about? Different perspectives and constructive criticism are welcome.
Comments are public immediately. Do not include personal contact details or external links. Automated checks block suspicious solicitation, prohibited transactions and spam; they can make mistakes.
Comments load when you reach this section.
Administrator sign-in Sign out