The AI buildout is sustainable

Every day brings new predictions that the so-called “AI buildout” is unsustainable, a bubble, or a crisis waiting to happen. The argument is that the US economy is being held hostage by AI spending, invoking the usual metaphors of a house of cards or a Ponzi scheme that will come crashing down. A few examples from 2026: The biggest gamble in the U.S. economy is starting to look riskier — The Washington Post, July 31. AI’s Wobbly House of Cards Puts Markets and US Economy at Risk — Bloomberg, September 20. AI slowdown calls justified but collapse of bubble may be more immediate threat — The Guardian, September 20. Financing of historic AI buildout raises systemic risks in US, researcher says — Reuters, September 24. The Coming AI Meltdown — The American Prospect, September 25. The debt-fueled AI boom is cracking — Axios, October 16. However, these predictions of unsustainability are hardly new. They go back to at least 2023: AI Is the Bubble to Burst Them All — WIRED, October 27, 2025.…