Visualising AI spending: How does it compare with history's mega projects? World leaders and tech executives are convening in New Delhi for the India-AI Impact Summit 2026, focusing on the role of artificial intelligence in governance, job disruption and global collaboration. However, behind these discussions lies the financial reality. Over the past decade, AI has drawn one of the largest waves of private investment in modern history, totalling trillions of dollars. According to Gartner, a United States-based business and technology insights company, worldwide spending on AI is forecast to total $2.5 trillion in 2026, a 44 percent increase over 2025.

Since returning to the White House, US President Donald Trump has touted corporate and foreign US investment announcements as proof he is ushering in "the golden age of America". On January 21, Trump said that before he'd finished the "first full business day" of his second term, the United States had "already secured nearly 3 trillion of new investments". On April 2, he said, "It looks like we're going to have about 6 trillion of investments". Six days later, Trump told National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner attendees that the investment total was "now revised up to about 7 (trillion)". During an April 30 NewsNation town hall, Trump speculated that "it could be more than 8 trillion".

Global private investment and the number of AI startups decreased in 2022, while the industry's adoption of the technology has plateaued compared to previous years, according to new data. This revelation hits at a time when AI hype is at an all-time high. Commercial tools capable of generating images, text, code, video, audio, and even music are rapidly improving and becoming increasingly convincing. Companies across different industries are looking to deploy generative AI features to revamp existing products and services or create new ones. Analysts are predicting the boom will increase global productivity and change the labor force, while experts are debating whether the technology poses an existential threat to humanity.

It's safe to say that AI is top of mind for enterprises -- assuming it wasn't before. According to a recent Accenture survey, 63% of organizations are now prioritizing AI over all other digital technologies. Accenture's stats are similar to McKinsey's, which show that more than half of companies are investing more than 5% of their digital budgets in AI. Sixty-three percent, meanwhile, say that they expect their investment to increase over the next three years. The enthusiasm is reflected in the growing financing AI startups have been able to attract.

In our fourth installment of the Bytes Chat, we convened a panel of economists to discuss the newly released NBER study on the impact of robots on jobs and wages. Bytes contributors Rob Seamans, associate professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, Bret Swanson, president of Entropy Economics, and Hal Singer, senior fellow at George Washington University's Institute of Public Policy were joined by special guest Marshall Steinbaum, senior economist and fellow of the Roosevelt Institute. The conversation has been edited slightly for readability. First question is at the behest of our president. Are the robots coming over the border? Is this a border problem? Marshall Steinbaum: If you get all the enemies in one place, it's easier to kill them. Singer: Ok, let's get serious.