Author: Henry Kanapi

Elon Musk says the US economy is on the cusp of a much faster growth phase, noting that applied artificial intelligence will drive a sharp acceleration beyond current trends. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis shows that real gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 4.3% in the third quarter of 2025, exceeding economists’ expectations of 3.2%, with consumer spending rising 3.5% after a 2.5% gain in the prior quarter. Musk says the backdrop is an early signal of what he believes is coming next as AI becomes more widely applied across the economy. “Double-digit growth…

Rick Sherlund says the next phase of artificial intelligence will be defined less by flashy applications and more by what happens behind the scenes as AI becomes embedded in everyday business operations. In a new CNBC interview, the Wall Street legend and senior adviser at Wedbush says that after several years of experimentation, AI is now moving directly into core enterprise workflows, changing how companies actually run. He says that the shift is being driven by the rise of agents and agentic systems that collaborate across complex tasks inside organizations. “After three years on the market now, it’s finally becoming…

A Bank of America analyst says the idea of putting data centers in space is moving from sci-fi to a serious investor narrative, driven by electricity constraints, regulation and launch-cost math that could shift over the coming months. In a new CNBC interview, Bank of America Securities analyst Andrew Obin says he initially dismissed the concept, but changed his view after digging into the underlying drivers. “Well, at first I thought it was bonkers. And then when you dig in, you actually realize that there are very specific developments that are driving the narrative. And we think it’s going to…

The US Senate has introduced new legislation aimed at confronting the growing use of artificial intelligence in financial fraud, with a specific focus on deepfake scams that exploit voice, audio, and identity replication. The bill, titled the Preventing Deep Fake Scams Act, would establish a federal task force dedicated to examining how AI is being used across the financial services sector and how it is being weaponized by bad actors. The proposal was introduced in the Senate by Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. The lawmakers warn that the rise of social media…

Banking giant Wells Fargo says it is playing the AI trade differently in 2026, while focusing on another sector it believes will benefit from the current macroeconomic backdrop. In a new CNBC interview, Scott Wren, chief global equity strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, says he’s looking at two sectors that can stand out as hyperscalers continue to demand greater compute capacity. According to Wren, the bank’s focus for next year will move from mega-cap tech into sectors that will do most of the heavy lifting in the data center buildout. “And we’re trying to look at the AI trade…

Jan van Eck says artificial intelligence remains a long-term megatrend, but notes that the speculative phase, known as the AI bubble, has already ended, with markets now actively punishing excess and mispriced risk. In a new Fox Business interview, the VanEck chief says the shift happened quickly, even as public debate was still focused on whether a bubble existed at all. He points to sharp declines in AI-linked compute platforms as evidence that markets have already moved into a disciplined phase. “I think AI is a megatrend, but the bubble already popped. Just as we were all talking about the…

Brian Armstrong says the rise of AI agents is beginning to reshape how commerce works, as machines increasingly transact on their own and look for cheaper, more efficient payment rails. In an interview with Goldman Sachs Chairman and CEO David Solomon, Armstrong says AI systems are moving beyond analysis and decision-making into direct economic activity. Armstrong says AI agents are already starting to initiate transactions, creating a new need for native digital payment infrastructure. “AI agents are now starting to make more transactions and need to go pay for things. And I think they’re increasingly going to use stablecoin rails.”…

Sam Altman is sketching out a future economy shaped less by paychecks and more by ownership, as artificial intelligence begins to absorb a growing share of productive work. In an interview earlier this year with comedian and podcaster Theo Von, the OpenAI chief pointed out that simply distributing cash in an AI-driven world would fail to give people a meaningful stake in what comes next, as the technology increasingly generates wealth on humanity’s behalf. Altman said that in the future, the problem will be one of participation and governance, rather than material security alone. “I think people really need agency.…

The CEO of the cybersecurity firm Gen Digital says AI is pushing the digital world into a phase where trust collapses faster than human intuition can keep up. In a new interview on CNBC, Vincent Pilette warns that AI is rapidly blurring the line between what is real and what is fake online, creating conditions for large-scale financial harm driven by synthetic identities and personalized fraud. “I think 2026 will be that year where the human intuition, if you want, will be behind the digital world, all powered by AI. The line between real and fake will become harder to…

Bain & Company says AI agents are the next trend to move from novelty to normal, setting the stage for a major shift in how Americans buy goods online. In a new forecast focused on US retail, Bain estimates that AI-driven “agentic commerce” could grow into a $300 billion to $500 billion market by 2030, accounting for as much as 15% to 25% of total US e-commerce sales. “Agentic AI is closer than most realize, poised to become part of our everyday [lives] once consumer trust and infrastructure click into place.” The management consulting firm defines agentic commerce as purchases…