The artificial intelligence boom is creating an unprecedented demand for capital and infrastructure, raising questions about whether debt markets, power grids and corporate productivity can keep pace with the technology’s expansion, executives of global asset management firms warned at a Hong Kong summit.
Investment in AI infrastructure could reach US$10 trillion over the next five years, approaching the size of the US$12 trillion US bond market, said Emmanuel Roman, CEO of Pimco.
“At some point in time, it’s going to be too much,” Roman said in a panel discussion during the Global Financial Leaders’ Investment Summit. He compared the transformation to the Industrial Revolution in Britain in 1760 and pointed out that rising interest rates or intensifying geopolitical tensions could trigger a downturn.