IMF: The global economy is betting the house on artificial intelligence.

That bet has paid off handsomely so far. But the scale of the boom—and its expanding reach into more economies—is seeding new worries about the global consequences if the AI mania ends. 

It probably won’t just be stock investors that get burned if boom turns to bust, the International Monetary Fund said. The world could be looking at a sharp pullback in growth that hits both rich and poor countries alike, 

according to one scenario included in the fund’s fall projections.

The scenario wasn’t a forecast. 

Even if a crash can be avoided or managed, powerful AI-assisted cyberattacks on banks and other financial institutions represent a new threat to the stability of the global financial system, the IMF warned.

In the U.S., the money spent on data centers and related infrastructure is expected to top more than $10 trillion in the seven years through 2032.

“I’d say the advent of this new technology is probably the most consequential change to the U.S. and the global economy in my lifetime at this point,” Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh said Friday. 

Wall Street Journal 16 October 2026

https://www.wsj.com/economy/global/ai-boom-or-bust-scenarios-loom-large-at-world-financial-summit-00edaeff

Global Financial Markets Face Rising Risks From AI, Bond Yields, and Cyberattacks

https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2026/10/12/global-financial-markets-face-rising-risks-from-ai-bond-yields-and-cyberattacks

World Economic Outlook (October 2026)

https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/datasets/WEO