A tech breakthrough that was supposed to bring prosperity risks turning into a major economic shock. Citrini Research put out a report on February 23, 2026, and it’s already causing tech giants’ stocks to plummet and forcing Wall Street to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
The development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, which was supposed to be the driving force behind global prosperity, might actually be the catalyst for one of the deepest economic crises in US history. This is according to New Format.
The Citrini Research Institute of Economic Research just put out a report called “2028: The Global Intelligence Crisis,” and it’s already causing panic on Wall Street.
After the document was released on February 23, the stock market reacted right away: shares of tech giant IBM dropped 13%, while Datadog, CrowdStrike, and Zscaler lost 9% of their value.
According to analysts, the US economy could face an unprecedented shock by 2028. Experts are saying that the S&P 500 stock index is going to drop 38%, unemployment is going to jump to 10.2%, and the lending sector is going to crash. The main reason is the widespread introduction of AI.
Economists say that even though artificial intelligence will probably be more productive than we thought, it won’t mean a economic boom for most people. But companies will start laying off employees in large numbers and replacing them with much cheaper algorithms.
Since people’s buying power is down, companies are going to have to cut costs even more. This will set off a chain of events that’ll lead to more layoffs, all in the name of investing in AI. And that’ll cause a major crash in consumer spending, which will mess with the social structure, financial markets, and real estate.
Who do you think will be the first to lose their jobs?
Every technological revolution has created new jobs. AI is no exception — jobs for data center engineers and prompt specialists (compiling queries for neural networks — ed.) are popping up. But the rate at which new jobs are being created is way behind the rate at which old jobs are being lost.
“For every new job created by AI, dozens of old ones become redundant,” analysts note.
Also, the pay for new positions is going to be a lot lower than what we’ve seen in the past. By 2028, it’ll mostly impact office workers and the service sector. At the same time, the manufacturing sector, construction, healthcare, and skilled trades will stay pretty steady.
But even in a crisis, some companies will keep raking in the cash by keeping their staff costs low. But this money won’t be going to the economy through the salaries of analysts, lawyers, managers, or developers.
Economists call this “phantom GDP” — it’s economic activity that’s recorded in macroeconomic reports but doesn’t actually benefit the real economy or society.
At some point, the US government will probably step in. One idea is to give a “AI dividend” — money from companies that’s been set aside — to people who’ve lost their jobs.
“But the social structure is falling apart faster than the legislative process can keep up,” the experts are saying.