Subvolts take AI's success could crash markets. Sorkin explains the risks and parallels to 1929. Mar 18, 2026 - Business
- Understand how AI's rapid progress could create systemic economic risks and disrupt industries, impacting financial markets and business stability.
- Everyday users
- Learn about the potential negative economic consequences of advanced AI, including job market disruption and financial instability, and how it might affect society.
This episode features a respected financial journalist discussing AI's potential systemic economic risks, offering a critical perspective.
Are We Screwed If AI Works? — With Andrew Ross Sorkin
Audio streams from Alex Kantrowitz. Your place is remembered on this device.
From Subvolts
Summary and analysis by Subvolts editorial, AI-assisted.
Andrew Ross Sorkin joins the Big Technology Podcast to discuss AI's potential impact on the economy. They explore if AI's success could trigger a market crash through labor shocks or software disruption, drawing parallels to the 1929 crash. The conversation also touches on private credit risks and the potential economic benefits or consequences of advanced AI.
This episode asks if AI becoming very good could cause a big economic problem, like a market crash. It compares this to the 1929 stock market crash, discussing how AI might affect jobs and businesses.
This episode is for anyone concerned about AI's broader economic implications beyond immediate product development. It connects current AI advancements by labs like OpenAI and Google Gemini to potential large-scale market instability. Listeners will understand how AI's rapid progress could disrupt labor markets and software industries, leading to unforeseen financial consequences. It offers a critical perspective on AI's future, urging listeners to consider its systemic risks.
- HostAlex Kantrowitz
- GuestAndrew Ross SorkinAnchor, CNBC
- Guest: Andrew Ross Sorkin
- Show: Big Technology Podcast
- Length: 65 minutes
- Topic: AI's potential to cause a market crash via labor shock or software disruption
- Historical Parallel: 1929 market crash
Andrew Ross Sorkin is an anchor at CNBC, columnist at The New York Times, and author of 1929, a bestselling book about the worst market crash in history. Sorkin joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss whether AI achieving its potential could lead to a similar crash, either via a labor shock or the disruption of software. Stay tuned for the second half where we discuss private credit risks, prediction market gambling, and the SpaceX IPO. Hit play for a dynamic conversation about where AI could lead, and its potential economic benefits or consequences.
---
Enjoying Big Technology Podcast? Please rate us five stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ in your podcast app of choice.
Want a discount for Big Technology on Substack + Discord? Here’s 25% off for the first year: https://www.bigtechnology.com/subscribe?coupon=0843016b
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
3:37 Could AI's Success Cause a Market Crash?
7:02 The Mass Unemployment Question
34:39 Private Credit Explained
39:09 Private Credit Alarm Bells
42:43 The AI Debt Risk
47:14 The Prison of Financial Mediocrity
54:38 Could We Have a 1929-Scale Crash?
56:11 Fed Independence
1:03:08 The SpaceX IPO
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- labor shock
- Andrew Ross Sorkin
- a sudden, large change in the availability or cost of workers
- private credit
- Andrew Ross Sorkin
- loans made by non-bank financial institutions, often to companies
59 min1 h 0556 min1 h 02Can AI Keep Growing Exponentially? Let’s Ask SemiAnalysis — With Dylan Patel and Jordan Nanos
WithDylan Patel, Jordan Nanos
44 min
58 min
53 min
1 h 16Confronting the CEO of the AI company that impersonated me
WithShishir Mehrotra
Questions people ask
- Could AI's success lead to a market crash?
- Andrew Ross Sorkin discusses whether AI achieving its potential could lead to a market crash, potentially through a labor shock or software disruption.
- What historical event is AI's potential economic impact compared to?
- The episode draws parallels to the 1929 market crash, exploring if AI's disruption could cause a similar scale of economic downturn.
Page generated Oct 19, 2026. Summaries are Subvolts' own; the audio, artwork and notes belong to Alex Kantrowitz.