The Tech Policy Press Podcast What to Do If the AI Bubble Bursts
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Apr 12, 2026 Asad Ramzanali, Director of AI and Technology Policy at Vanderbilt and author of 'After the AI Crash,' outlines why an AI-driven financial crash is plausible and how it creates a rare window for policy reform. He discusses the core arithmetic mismatch in AI investment, risky financing and opaque data center funding, the politics of bailouts, and proposals like utility-style regulation and structural separation.
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Investment Versus Revenue Creates A Math Problem
- A financial mismatch makes an AI crash plausible rather than impossible.
- JP Morgan projects $5 trillion investment by 2030 while current AI revenues are tens of billions, creating a large shortfall in near-term returns.
Crises Unlock Political Space For Major Reform
- Crises reshape political will and create windows for big structural reform.
- After 2008 the response prioritized bailing out banks over people and produced technocratic fixes like Dodd-Frank instead of bold structural change.
Stop Circular Equity And Reveal Private Credit Risks
- Halt novel circular equity practices and increase debt-market transparency now.
- Circular equity (vendors financing customers) obscures incentives, and private credit/SPV funding for data centers hides risk from pensions and 401ks.