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AI Debt Is Spiralling Out Of Control

The real threat of AI is to the economy.

8 min readMar 1, 2026

Tech bros want us to be profoundly scared of AI. They bang on about how it will render us all obsolete, how it will soon become dangerously superintelligent, and how these systems are necessary for global economic viability.. Of course, these are all demonstrably manipulative lies, as I, and many others, have pointed out time and time again. So, don’t fall for the propaganda. But there is one aspect of AI we should be worried about: debt. You see, the AI bubble in and of itself isn’t horrific; it is the fact that, through debt, it is tied to the very foundations of our economy. In other words, when this bubble inevitably explodes, it will almost certainly take everyone down with it. We have known about this ticking time bomb for a while now, but as AI debt racks up, it is increasingly looking like a nuclear bomb. Let me explain.

The Debt

J.P. Morgan has calculated that AI-related debt now accounts for 14.5% of its $10 trillion investment-grade bond index, meaning they alone currently hold $1.5 trillion in AI debt. Others believe AI debt makes up 15–20% of most corporate bond indices, suggesting that the current total AI investment-grade debt (bonds) could be much higher than $1.5 trillion. In fact, some have discovered that AI is linked to more debt than

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Will Lockett
Will Lockett

Written by Will Lockett

Independent journalist covering global politics, climate change and technology. Get articles early at www.planetearthandbeyond.co