Winter Is Coming--For The Economy And AI

Economic winter has been a long time coming; the US has had the longest-running bull market in the country's history. Markets, startups, and corporate innovation and expansion have flourished for over a decade. But now we appear to be entering the early days of winter, as markets fall on coronavirus threats and large companies--including automotive, retail, and technology firms in the U.S. and Europe--announce substantial layoffs. Even before the coronavirus-related market declines, my conversations with companies and their consultants indicated that more companies are talking about restructurings and capital expense reductions than expansions. Several economists have raised the odds of a recession in 2020 to 50% or above.