Companies are adopting artificial intelligence faster than expected, and producing productivity gains rather than layoffs, Goldman Sachs says.

Why it matters: Research is piling up that indicates that AI is not the culprit for the current weakness in the labor market.

What they're saying: There is a "clear skew for companies using AI to drive productivity and revenue as opposed to cut costs," Joseph Briggs, senior global economist at Goldman Sachs, tells Axios.

• An internal survey of 100 Goldman Sachs investment bankers on how their clients are using AI shows the technology is not taking jobs just yet.

By the numbers: 37% of companies are already using AI, higher than the 10% Census Bureau estimate, according to the Wall Street firm's analysis.

• 11% of the companies surveyed are using AI to reduce headcount, while 47% said they are using AI to increase revenue and fuel productivity gains.

Threat level: Any job losses from AI are expected to come as a slow drip over the next decade.

• Tech-driven disruption fades within a couple of years, Briggs says, with about a 0.5 percentage point bump in employment within a given year.
• Over the course of the AI transition, Goldman estimates 6% to 7% of workers displaced by the technology over the course of a decade.
• "That seems like a relatively benign labor market outcome, and probably not large enough to lead to a significant reduction in aggregate demand," Briggs says.

Zoom in: The technology and information services industries are at 63% adoption and expected to reach 90% adoption within three years.

• Financial institutions are now the second-largest adopters of AI, with more than 80% adoption expected over the next three years.

The bottom line: AI will shake up the labor market, but not shatter it.

• "These type of things can't happen overnight," Briggs says.
• To "unlock the efficiency gains" associated with AI, significant work will need to be done by companies in rethinking their business, he says.
• That requires executives to have a strong understanding of how much the technology costs to put into effect and what jobs it can potentially replace.

Retail investors have been ferocious dip buyers this year, but that behavior appears to be shifting, as the group did not plough into tech stocks as usual during their most recent selloff.

Why it matters: Retail makes up a quarter of stock trading volume. If these investors stop buying dips, that could make selloffs longer and larger.

What they're saying: Retail is "skipping the dip," according to a note from JPMorgan analyzing trading activity from novice investors.

• Not only did these investors scale back ETF purchases, they also turned net sellers in single stocks, though it was driven in part by profit-taking off the back of Palantir's earnings this week, the analysts note. The Magnificant 7 still accounted for the entirety of single-stock buying by retail investors.

State of play: Wall Street institutions have been forced to stay invested because of retail investors in some instances.

• Several money managers tell Axios they are hoping for a pullback in the market to get back in, after having failed to do so when retail investors successfully took advantage of the "Liberation Day" selloff in April.

Reality check: The lack of dip buying may be more about how far stocks have already run up.

• "When you're at these types of valuations we're at, if we see anything less than, you know, excellent, people get nervous," Jim Caron, chief investment officer of portfolio solutions at Morgan Stanley, tells Axios.

The bottom line: Retail dip-buying powered much of 2025's bull market. Any pause may hint that Main Street finally sides with Wall Street on valuations.

Google rolled out a new set of AI-driven market tools designed to make Google Finance a smarter investment assistant.

Why it matters: It is the latest example of AI-powered tools that could give retail investors access to the kind of data-driven insights once reserved for Wall Street pros.

Driving the news: The revamped Google Finance gives people the ability to use "deep search" features for detailed market questions, like what drives the performance of a stock or how earnings trends compare.

• The tool performs hundreds of simultaneous searches to deliver in-depth answers, ready with links and follow-ups. It can also complete technical analysis and "advanced charting" as well, Google says.
• During earnings season, users can tune into live audio and transcripts of corporate calls with instant AI-generated summaries before, during and after.

Zoom out: The Google launch comes amid a rush across the financial sector to build or buy AI-powered investment tools.

• Anthropic has struck deals with major financial institutions.
• Robinhood has an AI-powered investing assistant called Cortex.
• OpenAI hired former investment bankers to build out a tool that could someday impact the job prospects for junior investment bankers.
• Banks from Goldman Sachs to JPMorgan have AI initiatives and models.

Threat level: It is a reminder that junior Wall Street jobs are at risk in an AI era.

• Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon recently told Axios that AI is not taking finance jobs, but raising the bar for those who have them.

The bottom line: With this launch, Google is providing retail investors with AI-powered quants on their own screens.