Money is pouring into AI at a staggering rate. Global VC investment in AI firms reached $258.7 billion in 2025, now 61 percent of all VC worldwide. Yet labour productivity across OECD countries grew just 0.4 percent in 2024. The pattern is not new. Electricity took 40 years to show up in the data. Computers took 15. The technology spreads first; the gains come later, after firms make painful investments in reorganization, training, and process redesign. AI is following the sa