The scale of AI usage is becoming increasingly harder to comprehend. In its latest earnings call Google noted that its AI models are now processing around 22 billion tokens per minute, up from 16 billion last quarter. A token is a unit of information and is roughly equivalent to a little less than one English word. To put that into perspective, Goldman Sachs estimates that AI models could be generating 120 quadrillion tokens per month by 2030. That is a massive number when you consider that all the printed works in the US Library of Congress equate to roughly 3 quadrillion. In fact, AI models are already generating more than that amount every month today. That growth is being fuelled by adoption across consumers and businesses, with Google reporting 950 million Gemini users each month and almost 90% of Fortune 500 companies using the platform. What was once a niche technology is now becoming mainstream, and the pace of adoption shows little sign of slowing.

Source: BE Semiconductor, Goldman Sachs, Alphabet, Goodbody

The scale of AI usage is accelerating rapidly. Google first‑party AI models are now processing over 16 billion tokens per minute, up from 10 billion last quarter, with global token consumption projected to rise from roughly 50 trillion tokens per day today to quadrillions by 2030. Tokens are units of data processed by AI models. Generally, 1 token is approximately 4 characters or 0.75 words in English. Over the past 12 months alone, 330 Google Cloud customers processed more than 1 trillion tokens each, while 35 surpassed the 10 trillion mark. Behind this surge sits a growing physical constraint: a single 100‑word AI prompt can consume around half a litre of water, and global data‑centre water demand is expected to more than double by 2030, increasingly concentrating AI growth in regions where water stress is already acute.

Sources: Alphabet, Nvidia, Copilot, Bank of America, Goodbody Asset Management.  

Recent global equity market weakness and volatility stems in large from the increased uncertainty regarding the future direction of US economic policy under the Trump administration. That said, there is little doubt that tariffs are a central part of Trump’s overall economic vision. It is also causing difficulties for the US Federal Reserve. The central bank began easing monetary policy last year but has paused rate cuts more recently as it considers the effects that tariffs might have on both growth (downside) and inflation (upside) within the US economy.

As most pensions are invested in equities how do we plan for retirement? What effect does the current  market volatility and market weakness have on our pension funds? To answer these questions and help give clarity and advice, contact us today.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, CNBC, Goodbody.

Deloitte recently published its Football Money League 2025 report detailing the revenue profiles of the world’s top football clubs. Real Madrid sits top of the pile, becoming the first football club to generate €1bn of revenue in a season in 2023/24. Manchester City are the top ranked English club with revenue of c.€838m in 2024, +1% y/y. The mix of Manchester City’s revenue is remarkable with commercial and broadcasting revenues representing c.89% of revenue. Whilst we won’t mention the 115+ charges hanging over the club, it is interesting that matchday revenue was just 11% of total sales, compared to Manchester United and Liverpool where matchday revenue was 19-20%.

This week also marked the close of the winter transfer window with many of these top clubs putting money to work. Premier League clubs spent an estimated £403m in the window, down significantly from the 2023 record of £815m. Manchester City were the top spenders across clubs, spending c.£178m on reinforcements and representing 44% of total Premier League spending. Football has become a big money business where financial clout is becoming increasingly important.

Source: Deloitte Football Money League 2025, The Atheltic, bbc.com, Goodbody