Artificial intelligence increases the GDP of the United States, highlighted the Bank of Canada in a report published in April 2025.

Without making a quantitative precision, the Canadian central bank referred to the impact of this branch of information technology.

Despite elevated uncertainty stemming from U.S. tariffs, the Bank of Canada indicated that business investment likely rebounded in the U.S. in the first quarter due to an uptick in aircraft purchases and higher spending related to artificial intelligence.

The U.S. economy grew strongly in 2024, but then slowed in early 2025 amid rising political uncertainty and weakening confidence. 

Artificial intelligence increases the GDP

In the first quarter, real GDP fell 0.1% at a quarterly rate. This figure surprised the market, as it was below the 0.6% in the previous quarter and the 0.5% that analysts were forecasting.

Behind the decline there was one factor that stood out: the jump in imports. Companies brought forward purchases in response to the announcement of new tariffs. As a result, net exports subtracted 1.2 points from growth.

Productivity

When productivity improves, the economy can produce more with the same resources. That raises incomes and strengthens sustained growth.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) appears to be one of the keys to achieving this. While estimates vary, most agree that its impact on GDP will be positive.

A Goldman Sachs study predicts that AI could generate a cumulative increase in GDP of up to 0.9% in the short term.

However, the long-term outlook raises more questions, highlights an analysis by the U.S. Congress. What new tasks will it create? How complex will they be? Will adoption be even across sectors?

According to another analysis, the effect of AI will depend on which industries adopt it and whether or not it translates into greater productivity gains. In the best-case scenario, GDP could grow as much as 35% above its baseline level. But if conditions change, that impact could be much smaller.