AI, Economy & Finance News — 2026-09-25 (Fri) Morning News

AI and Economy Latest News

Overview

At the US-China summit, AI is on the agenda along with trade and tariffs, and rapprochement with China and competition for AI supremacy are progressing simultaneously (Fox Business, PBS, CNBC). On the other hand, Wells Fargo and UBS have sounded the alarm about the sustainability of AI capital investment, making it clear that electricity demand and data center investment will continue to expand (24/7 Wall St., Yahoo Finance).

Macroeconomic/growth trends

Brookings estimates the scale of AI buildout to be $10.3T, exceeding the GDP ratio of railways and highways (IndexBox). The US GDP growth rate is higher than that of the G7 countries, and the AI boom is cited as one reason for this (Harici). On CNBC, Payne Capital's Courtney Garcia says AI buildout justifies economic growth and rising yields (CNBC). On the other hand, Reuters reported that researchers have pointed out that AI buildout funding poses systemic risks to the US, and Investopedia has positioned 2027 as the test for an AI spending boom (Reuters, Investopedia).

Productivity trends

Fortune contrasted this with Japanese companies paying older employees to "do nothing," while Western companies are pressing them to improve productivity through AI (Fortune). Microsoft Source reported that Rockwell Automation is combining AI and field expertise to help workers resolve issues faster. At CFO Dive, Gartner urged CFOs to have realistic expectations about the return on investment of AI (CFO Dive). In Japan, Yayoi reports that there is a team that achieved better results than a team that simply used AI, and was able to reduce development man-hours by 80% (atmarkit.itmedia.co.jp). Spiceworks pointed out that companies may be easily blaming AI for factors other than AI (Spiceworks).

Trends in employment and labor market

Fast Company reported that the AI boom has cut new hires in tech in New York City by half (Fast Company). layoffs.fyi continues to track AI layoffs (layoffs.fyi). GovInfoSecurity reports that AI is changing, not eliminating, cybersecurity jobs, and ExecutiveGov questions federal employees' readiness to handle AI agents (GovInfoSecurity, ExecutiveGov). Bloomberg has proposed "7 big ideas" to address the AI jobs crisis (Bloomberg.com). Alabama Daily News reports state needs partners to implement AI talent development plan (Alabama Daily News)

Trends in energy/power demand

The New York Times reported that Google is trying to send an AI data center to space (The New York Times). Data Center Frontier reported that Amazon and Generac's partnership is drawing attention to backup power for AI infrastructure, and Morningstar reported that UL Solutions has launched a certification program for emerging power technologies for AI data centers (Data Center Frontier, Morningstar). Yahoo Finance reported that Berkshire Hathaway's Greg Abel called the demand for AI data centers a huge opportunity for Berkshire Energy (Yahoo Finance). Axios reported on the conflict between AI demand for electricity and the promotion of clean energy, and Nikkei Business reported that AI demand has caused electricity prices to soar in the United States, and that big tech companies such as Google have ``pledged'' to shoulder the burden of the increase (Axios, Nikkei Business online version).

Remarks by central banks, international organizations, and VIPs

None of the headlines collected this time were confirmed to have been made by the key figures being tracked (Lagarde, Ueda, Bailey, Georgieva, Cormann, Banga, Acemoglu, Brynjolfsson). On an institutional level, the IMF has reportedly pointed out that AI can transform productivity and economic policy (Vanguard News). The EU financial regulator has indicated that it will make AI and tokenization a supervisory priority in 2027 (Cryptonews.net). At the Philadelphia Fed's FinTech conference, AI was cited as one reason why underlying inflation, excluding oil and tariffs, remained at 2.5% to 3% and has not improved (TradingView). Breakingviews published a commentary stating that Europe has room to avoid the "Dark Ages" of AI (Breakingviews).

Trends in corporate capital investment

qz.com reported that AI buildout is becoming one of the biggest economic bets in U.S. history, and Global Macro Monitor called it a "$10 Trillion Bet," pointing out that AI capital investment has become the central macroeconomic story (qz.com, Global Macro Monitor). 24/7 Wall St. reported that Wells Fargo has lowered its S&P 500 target to 7,700 after analyzing that AI spending will break even in 2028. Yahoo Finance and Investing.com both reported that UBS views increased reliance on AI capital investment as a key growth risk (Yahoo Finance, Investing.com). michaelparekh.substack.com discussed capital investment trends including Gemini and DeepSeek (michaelparekh.substack.com). jbpress analyzed that Nvidia's acquisition of Hugging Face was aimed at defending the "open AI economic zone" (jbpress.ismedia.jp).

Trade and industrial policy

Fox Business, PBS, aol.com reported that President Trump and President Xi Jinping will hold a meeting at the White House to discuss trade and tariffs, as well as AI.(Fox Business, PBS, aol.com) CNBC reported that the Chinese side has confirmed that the first AI talks between the US and China have been held and has hinted at extending the trade truce. TV Tokyo's Morning Satellite featured the period of explosive spread of AI and the US-China summit (tv-tokyo.co.jp).

Integrated analysis: What is happening now

The fact that AI became a negotiating topic along with tariffs at the US-China summit shows that AI has become a central variable in trade policy, not just a technology competition (Fox Business, CNBC). At the same time, Wells Fargo and UBS's warnings about the sustainability of AI capital investment (24/7 Wall St., Yahoo Finance), the $10.3T buildout estimated by Brookings (IndexBox), and the systemic risks pointed out by Reuters (Reuters) suggest that while the AI investment boom supports macroeconomic growth, it is accumulating financial vulnerabilities. This expansion in capital investment is inextricably linked to the surge in electricity demand, and investments in backup power sources for data centers (Data Center Frontier) and Big Tech's pledge to pay for rising electricity rates (Nikkei Business Online Edition) show that the external costs of AI buildout are beginning to be passed on to electricity infrastructure and consumers. On the employment front, while progress is being made in reducing the number of new graduate hires (Fast Company) and continuously tracking layoffs (layoffs.fyi) through AI, there are also reports of demonstrations of improved productivity (atmarkit.itmedia.co.jp), and it appears that we are at the stage where the impact of AI on employment and its contribution to productivity can be observed simultaneously. The fact that the IMF and EU regulators are beginning to develop policy frameworks may indicate that we are at a stage where the economic impact of AI is beginning to be recognized as a supervisory issue at the level of central banks and international institutions (Vanguard News, Cryptonews.net).

Future points of interest

- How will AI-related export controls, tariffs, and investment regulations be adjusted as a result of the US-China summit? - How will the profitability risks of AI capital investment pointed out by Wells Fargo and UBS affect the stock market and credit market towards 2027-2028? - The impact of the rapid increase in power demand caused by AI on electricity prices, power grid investment, and employment structure may further expand in the future.

AI and finance latest news

Overview

As AI agents enter the implementation stage in payments, transactions, and insurance underwriting, banks are acting on both security concerns and legacy renewal. In the insurance field, increased costs and appraisal conflicts due to AI have surfaced, and BlackRock is expanding investment in AI infrastructure.

Bank trends

Banks are warning that AI shopping agents increase the risk of fraud, abuse, and data leaks (Fox Business). It was reported that fintech companies tend to be preferred over traditional banks based on AI models (American Banker). According to an analysis (PYMNTS.com), AI is expanding the options for upgrading banks' core systems. Cyera, which helps secure AI agents, raises $400m from Goldman Sachs (FinTech Global).

Insurance trends

The NYTimes reported that an appraisal battle between hospital AI and insurance company AI is pushing up medical costs. Vox points out that AI is already involved in determining whether or not to receive medical benefits. Reuters reports that AI tools have resulted in approximately $1 billion in additional costs for Blue Cross insurers. Misinformation and deepfakes are the most commonly reported AI coverage risks for insurance companies, Risk & Insurance reported. InsuranceNewsNet also reported concerns that AI could lower employee morale.

Trends in asset management and market transactions

It was reported that BlackRock is evolving its AI-related investment stance by reorganizing its model portfolio (Bloomberg). Yahoo Finance reports that BlackRock has invested $25 billion in AI data centers in Asia. BlackRock has expressed the view that stablecoins can become an AI payment layer that connects commerce and computational resources (AI Insider). Wealth Management has introduced a new AI agent. On the trading side, Public is linking AI trading agents with prediction market Kalshi (Fortune, Barron's), and FirstMark and Chemistry have invested in a startup building a dedicated exchange for AI computational resources (WSJ). Bloomberg analyzes that the IPO of new cloud company Nscale shows that it is more than an AI intermediary.

Fintech/payment trends

Stripe's AI executive introduced the growth of the AI company, with a growth rate of 175% and 48% of sales outside of its home country (saastr.com). Cleverbridge announced that it has implemented the first AI agent-driven payment in France with Visa and Revolt (Business Wire). Mastercard is working to connect SME growth, AI, and cybersecurity (FinTech Magazine). Kredete acquires agent stablecoin infrastructure Gravv (FinTech Futures).

Remarks from key figures and authorities in the financial world

No specific statements or actions by the key figures tracked in this report (Jamie Dimon, Larry Fink, Jane Fraser, David Solomon, Brian Moynihan, Ted Pick, Ken Griffin, and Paul Atkins) were identified in the headlines. There have been reports about BlackRock (model portfolio restructuring, $25 billion investment in Asia AI data center, stablecoin positioning), but Larry Fink himself has not mentioned anything. It was reported that Franklin Templeton's CEO gave a "seven-word opinion" to AI stock investors, but details of his name and title and the content of his remarks were not listed in the headline (thestreet.com).

Trends in AI-related stocks and funding

Cybersecurity company Island reaches valuation of $6.4 billion (Reuters, WHTC). OpenEvidence, dubbed "ChatGPT for doctors," has raised a new round of funding at a valuation of $15 billion (Business Insider). Spanish AI startup Reply Next has raised €400,000 pre-seed (Dealroom). Cyera raised $400m from Goldman Sachs (FinTech Global, supra).

Trends in financial regulation and supervision

A review of the current legal system regarding AI financial services has been published (Center for Democracy and Technology). New York state may be able to share Frontier AI safety reports across the U.S. without new legislation, Lawfare reported. The EU Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has put AI and tokenization on the regulator’s agenda for 2027, reports unchainedcrypto. In Japan, the Australian government revealed that AI had illegally infiltrated the public health insurance system, and that an AI developed by OpenAI was involved, and it was reported that notification to the government was delayed by three months (TBS NEWS DIG).

Integrated analysis: What is happening now

As for the flow of funds, it appears that major financial institutions themselves are investing capital in both AI infrastructure and AI security, such as BlackRock investing $25 billion in AI data infrastructure in Asia and Goldman Sachs investing $400 million in Cyera, an AI agent security company. On the other hand, risks are shifting to the payment and insurance side, with banks wary of the risk of fraud from AI shopping agents and insurance companies wary of increased costs ($1 billion for Blue Cross companies) due to appraisal battles with hospital AI. In the payments field, we are at the stage where AI agents are actually initiating transactions and payments, as seen in the cases of Cleverbridge, Visa, and Revolut, and the collaboration between Public and Kalshi, and this is consistent with Stripe's 175% growth rate. Regulators are currently in the process of developing frameworks following the likes of New York State and the EU (ESMA, set to be on the agenda in 2027), and the case of unauthorized AI intrusion into Japan's public health insurance system and delayed notification can be said to be a symbolic case that shows that the actual operation of AI agents is ahead of the development of supervisory and reporting systems.

Future points of interest

- To what extent will the assessment conflicts between insurance companies and medical institutions' AIs affect medical costs and insurance premiums? - How far will AI agent-based payments (Visa, Revolut, Kalshi, etc.) expand across major payment networks? - How will the New York State/EU AI safety reporting framework be implemented in AI supervision of financial institutions?