Overview

• IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva cautioned that bullish sentiment around AI’s productivity potential could reverse abruptly, risking weaker global growth and exposing financial vulnerabilities.
• The Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee reported that a closely watched U.S. valuation gauge has neared dot-com peaks, highlighting increased risk of a sharp market pullback.
• Analysts note that gains are concentrated in a small group of large tech companies, a structure that heightens fragility if investor confidence falters or expected profits take longer to materialize.
• Counterpoints include Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang asserting the AI cycle differs from the dot-com era and Fed official Mary Daly indicating the current surge does not pose a financial-stability threat.
• Beyond markets, new reporting highlights rapid AI deployment in energy—from predictive maintenance and self-healing grids to safety robots—while Kurdistan’s digital chief Hiwa Afandi urges strong data governance and human-capital development given AI’s unusually fast diffusion.