AI inntar økonomien: – Vil nok bli hardt for en del

AI-driven investments and data centers contribute to nearly half of the USA's economic growth, according to DNB Carnegie senior economist Knut A. Magnussen. As companies take on loans to finance these investments, the cost of borrowing has risen for the U.S. government due to increased demand. This has raised concerns among Wall Street banks, with Storebrand-forvalter Olav Chen warning that AI could pose a macroeconomic risk.

Anthropic, a prominent AI giant, has launched several large language models under the Claude brand. These AI models can perform tasks like coding and answering questions. Anthropic is expected to go public at the end of the year, with its valuation projected at $2 trillion, comparable to the value of the entire Norwegian oil fund. The company plans to spend $750 billion on data center computing resources over the next few years.

In preparation for its upcoming stock listing, Anthropic revealed that it expects to use $7 trillion of that money on data center resources. However, the company only made $16.3 billion in revenue in the first half of the year, up from $1.1 billion in the same period last year. Chen noted that while AI giants have traditionally relied on their existing cash reserves, they are now taking on loans, marking a new risk landscape.

Chen believes that if AI investments fail to deliver expected returns, it could be a significant risk for the companies involved. The increased borrowing to finance AI investments has already led to higher borrowing costs for other sectors. This has put pressure on economic activity and growth in general, Magnussen from DNB Carnegie pointed out.

While AI is attracting talent from other sectors, Chen doubts that AI agents will replace most jobs entirely. He acknowledged that some jobs may disappear but expects new industries to emerge. However, the growing opposition to AI data center expansion has become a political risk, particularly in the U.S. Although Trump supports AI development, he has faced opposition from 70% of Americans when it comes to data center construction, mainly due to concerns about land use, electricity costs, and water consumption.