Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius warns AI investment boom will not last forever

MacroIndustry Impact 4
โดย Yahoo Finance·GLOBAL·Read original
Summary · why it matters

Goldman Sachs chief economist Jan Hatzius warned that the aggressive spending on artificial intelligence will not continue indefinitely, saying "it will not go on forever" at the firm's Communacopia & Tech conference. Hatzius said it is possible many of these investments will prove unproductive, a downside scenario he said cannot be excluded, and that even under a positive verdict on the build-out there will eventually be a slowdown. His baseline assumption is that AI spending is sustainable, productive and contributes to stronger productivity growth, but he noted that a new technology build-out naturally moves from an investment phase, when spending rises substantially, to an exploitation phase, when investment falls, creating challenges for those who assumed the boom would continue forever. The warning comes as projections for AI infrastructure spending remain extremely high: global investment in AI infrastructure will hit a record $31.6 trillion through to 2050, according to baseline projections in PwC's new Global Data Centre Outlook, with annual data center capital expenditures forecast to rise from roughly $800 billion per year in 2026 to $1.8 trillion per year in 2050. PwC said AI infrastructure investment is expected to accelerate as chips and other internet-connected equipment require upgrades every few years, and PwC global infrastructure leader of Australia Clara Cutajar said AI infrastructure is becoming one of the defining capital allocation challenges of the next generation, cutting across technology, energy, real estate, supply chains, regulation and financing. Companies from Meta to Google to Microsoft are investing billions to support their AI ambitions.

Impact on stocks 4

Artificial Intelligence▲ · 3 stocks
Financials▲ · 1 stocks
Goldman Sachs Group Inc
GS
± Mixedrelevance

Goldman's own chief economist gave the warning, but it is a macro view, not a company-specific financial event.

Theme Impact 5

Off-coverage companies 1

PricewaterhouseCoopersPrivate± Mixed
relevance

PwC's data-center outlook is cited for spending projections, but the article gives no PwC-specific financial or business development.

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