A viral thought experiment about AI’s future drove a tech-stock selloff. Citrini Research’s hypothetical imagined a 2028 world where AI agents become ubiquitous. As AI replaces workers, displaced workers spend less, so companies’ revenues fall, so they replace more workers. The financial system — reliant on professionals earning stable salaries for decades to pay mortgages and loans — collapses, and businesses that rely on human loyalty are destroyed as AI agents seek out the best deals.
The gloomy scenario dragged the Dow down 1.7% Monday, concentrated in sectors described by the scenario, although tariff uncertainty was also a factor. Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal questioned whether the story was “internally consistent” although he said the vision was “definitely something to think about.”