AI Threatens the Finance Industry
AI Can Be Transformational and Still Be a Bubble
America's capital markets have rallied to finance the artificial intelligence boom, with "hyperscalers" expected to invest more than $3 trillion through 2030 in data and power infrastructure.
Private-credit firms have loaned an estimated $200 billion, some of which is probably borrowed from banks.
Tens of billions more are packaged into securitizations offering tranches with various levels of risk and return.
It’s hard to see where much of the exposure ultimately resides — and the picture can change rapidly as the debts mount and traders take on new positions.
Regulators should be asking how the financial system and the broader economy will cope if the AI boom turns to bust, as the history of innovation suggests that most of today's big players won't reap the gains they're hoping for.
The Financial Stability Oversight Council should gather data and do analysis to identify concentrations of leverage, and regulators should insist on ample equity capital to guarantee resilience in any scenario.
Bloomberg editorial February 12, 2026
Global trade and corporate borrowing exploded.
And the global financial system, which had been roughly the same size as the real economy through the 1970s, grew rapidly to being more than five times the value of global economic output today.
Politically, that delivered rapid deregulation and policies that prioritized assets over income, Shvets argues in his recent book The Twilight Before The Storm.
Shvets’s warning is that AI unchecked will swiftly widen and deepen the resulting social fractures. It’s never been easier to become a billionaire or to sink into inescapable poverty, Shvets told me.
Paul J. Davies Bloomberg February 11, 2026
Kommentarer