The AI Boom and the Future of Finance

Amid reports of mass layoffs, large-scale destruction of books, sweeping copyright violations, and severe environmental damage caused by AI data centers, an increasingly popular refrain is that the AI bubble cannot burst soon enough.

AI-related companies have gained some $27 trillion in market value since November 2022, but investments have been largely circular and increasingly debt-financed, whereas revenues still highly speculative.

But while a collapse would cause enormous economic pain, no one should assume that it would spell the end of the AI-driven transformation currently underway. ...