The AI boom and its risks
The introduction of artificial intelligence has triggered an investment boom, particularly in the United States.
Commerzbank Economic Research
07/10/2026
AI triggers an investment boom, ...
Major U.S. high-tech companies—and specifically data center operators (“hyperscalers”)—are investing hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure for artificial intelligence (AI). More and more resources are being channeled into this sector, which many believe will trigger a surge in progress similar to the major foundational innovations of the past.
Such surges in innovation have typically been accompanied by investment booms in the past, which allows us to compare the current boom with past cycles. So far, AI has primarily fueled investment in IT. This year, real investment in IT equipment and software is expected to be about 50% higher than in 2022—the year that saw the launch of ChatGPT.
By contrast, in the fourth year of the “dot-com” euphoria in the 1990s, investment in IT equipment and software was already a good 120% above the 1995 baseline. Investment rose even more sharply during the British railroad boom of the 19th century. Thus, the current investment cycle does not yet appear excessive, assuming that AI is indeed one of the major foundational innovations in economic history.
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