As vote nears, Trumps AI gamble fuels economic uncertainty

See more from the L.A.Times in Google Search.

Set us as preferred WASHINGTON — In September, just weeks before Americans were set to vote in this year’s midterm elections, a sudden panic over the dangers posed by artificial intelligence caught the White House off guard.A whistleblower had gained viral attention warning the technology could soon pose an existential threat.

President Trump was quick to dismiss concerns, evoking urgency in the U.S.race to achieve global dominance in superintelligence.

He rejected calls to negotiate guardrails on the most advanced AI models with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, weeks later, during a prime opportunity to do so in Washington.Privately, the president expressed concern that public hysteria over AI could jolt markets that have become excessively concentrated in AI-related stocks.He had already seen fresh polling that showed widespread bipartisan opposition to the boom in construction of AI data centers, a push by Trump that has cannibalized chips and energy from other sectors of the economy, driving up costs.Now, on the campaign trail in the final days before the vote, Trump is vowing to expand a “golden age” of prosperity through the end of his presidency.

But experts say his policies on AI have set the U.S.economy up for a period of tremendous risk over the next two years.Some of the world’s leading financiers are sounding increasingly alarmed about an AI bubble.

Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates, has warned that AI stocks have become detached from financial fundamentals, pushing markets to precarious highs.Ken Griffin, the world’s richest hedge fund owner, said last week that AI is “almost certainly” fueling a market bubble that could be on the verge of a burst.

Politics Trump’s push to end the war that has raged since 2022 comes as midterm elections could give Democrats control of Congress, expanding their oversight powers.Economists warn that Trump has overseen fiscal policy that...