Matteo Wong and Charlie Warzel: “The global economy has become dependent on the AI industry. Trillions of dollars are being invested into the technology and the infrastructure it relies on; in the final months of 2025, functionally all economic growth in the United States came from AI investments. This would be risky even in ideal conditions. And we are very far from ideal conditions.
“Much of the AI supply chain—chips, data centers, combustion turbines, and so on—relies on key materials that are produced in or transported through just a few places on Earth, with little overlap. In particular, the industry is highly dependent on the Middle East, which has been destabilized by the war in Iran. A global energy shock seems all but certain to come soon—the kind where even the best-case scenario is a disaster. The war could grind the AI build-out to a halt. This would be devastating for the tech firms that have issued historic amounts of debt to race against their highly leveraged competitors, and it would be devastating for the private lenders and banks that have been buying up that debt in the hope of ever bigger returns.
“For the better part of the past year, Wall Street analysts and tech-industry observers have fretted publicly about an AI bubble. The fear is that too much money is coming in too fast and that generative-AI companies still have not offered anything close to a viable business model. If growth were to stall or the technology were to be seen as failing to deliver on its promises, the bubble might burst, triggering a chain reaction across the financial system. Everyone—big banks, private-equity firms, people who have no idea what’s mixed into their 401(k)—would be hit by the AI crash.
“Until recently, that kind of crash felt hypothetical; today, it feels plausible and, to some, almost inevitable.”
Can’t wait to see what things hypers will say to deny the objective reality of this scam, this time. Go ahead, we’re waiting! 💁♂️ Tell me more about email and the Industrial Revolution, you ridiculous holders of bags.
Dependent_Title_1370 on
So what your saying is AI is the new banana and the US is a banana Republic. Well, as someone living in the US, it certainly feels that way.
ZanzerFineSuits on
I suspect corporations will realize the value isn’t there to be had, the savings aren’t there to be had, and they’ll have to bring staff back. Maybe not in original numbers, but it won’t be the panacea they think it is.
PhiloLibrarian on
Companies will go bankrupt with the lawsuits that happen because AI can’t contextualize or make informed decisions on its own… without enough hands on the wheel, we’re just headed off a cliff.
viera_enjoyer on
I think AI technology came too soon with very inefficient technology. If corporations and rich people were taxed enough they would be waiting for quantum chips to become available or they would be investing in its research instead of wasting billions and billions on datacenters.
NIRPL on
Trumps aggressive incompetence may have prevented skynet
Slavasonic on
Is the economy dependent on AI or is the economy being destroyed and AI is the one area that happens to be growing?
Antique_Maybe_8324 on
We are currently in the “Willie E Coyote looks down after running off a cliff”… moment.
See you at the bottom, 🫡
And it’s not falling if you do it with style, it’s “landing” from stratospheric heights
oh_ski_bummer on
Don’t worry AI will figure out solution not dissimilar from Soylent Green.
10 Comments
Matteo Wong and Charlie Warzel: “The global economy has become dependent on the AI industry. Trillions of dollars are being invested into the technology and the infrastructure it relies on; in the final months of 2025, functionally all economic growth in the United States came from AI investments. This would be risky even in ideal conditions. And we are very far from ideal conditions.
“Much of the AI supply chain—chips, data centers, combustion turbines, and so on—relies on key materials that are produced in or transported through just a few places on Earth, with little overlap. In particular, the industry is highly dependent on the Middle East, which has been destabilized by the war in Iran. A global energy shock seems all but certain to come soon—the kind where even the best-case scenario is a disaster. The war could grind the AI build-out to a halt. This would be devastating for the tech firms that have issued historic amounts of debt to race against their highly leveraged competitors, and it would be devastating for the private lenders and banks that have been buying up that debt in the hope of ever bigger returns.
“For the better part of the past year, Wall Street analysts and tech-industry observers have fretted publicly about an AI bubble. The fear is that too much money is coming in too fast and that generative-AI companies still have not offered anything close to a viable business model. If growth were to stall or the technology were to be seen as failing to deliver on its promises, the bubble might burst, triggering a chain reaction across the financial system. Everyone—big banks, private-equity firms, people who have no idea what’s mixed into their 401(k)—would be hit by the AI crash.
“Until recently, that kind of crash felt hypothetical; today, it feels plausible and, to some, almost inevitable.”
Read more: [https://theatln.tc/LBJWpSaf](https://theatln.tc/LBJWpSaf)
Can’t wait to see what things hypers will say to deny the objective reality of this scam, this time. Go ahead, we’re waiting! 💁♂️ Tell me more about email and the Industrial Revolution, you ridiculous holders of bags.
So what your saying is AI is the new banana and the US is a banana Republic. Well, as someone living in the US, it certainly feels that way.
I suspect corporations will realize the value isn’t there to be had, the savings aren’t there to be had, and they’ll have to bring staff back. Maybe not in original numbers, but it won’t be the panacea they think it is.
Companies will go bankrupt with the lawsuits that happen because AI can’t contextualize or make informed decisions on its own… without enough hands on the wheel, we’re just headed off a cliff.
I think AI technology came too soon with very inefficient technology. If corporations and rich people were taxed enough they would be waiting for quantum chips to become available or they would be investing in its research instead of wasting billions and billions on datacenters.
Trumps aggressive incompetence may have prevented skynet
Is the economy dependent on AI or is the economy being destroyed and AI is the one area that happens to be growing?
We are currently in the “Willie E Coyote looks down after running off a cliff”… moment.
See you at the bottom, 🫡
And it’s not falling if you do it with style, it’s “landing” from stratospheric heights
Don’t worry AI will figure out solution not dissimilar from Soylent Green.