The stock market just erased –$800 BILLION in market cap as the consensus narrative shifts toward “AI is taking over the world.”
That view is too obvious.
And the obvious trade rarely pays.
BOOKMARK this article and revisit it over the next 12 months.
The doomsday scenario went viral because it captured something visceral:
AI framed not as a productivity tool — but as a macroeconomic destabilizer.
A negative feedback loop:
Layoffs → weaker consumption → more automation → more layoffs.
What’s undeniably true:
AI isn’t another software upgrade.
It’s a general-purpose capability shock hitting every white-collar workflow simultaneously.
Unlike any prior revolution, AI is improving across all domains at once.
But the collapse narrative assumes something dangerous:
👉 That demand is fixed
👉 That productivity doesn’t expand markets
👉 That systems can’t adapt faster than disruption
History suggests the opposite.
THE ANTHROPIC TAKEDOWNS ARE REAL
Markets aren’t hallucinating this risk.
Anthropic’s Claude has triggered sector-wide repricing events throughout 2026:
IBM posted its worst day since October 2000 after Claude streamlined COBOL workflows
Adobe down ~30% YTD as generative tools compress creative margins
Cybersecurity names dropped on “Claude Code Security”
The reaction wasn’t irrational.
When AI replicates labor, pricing power shifts to buyers immediately.
That’s margin compression — not collapse.
📉 REAL-TIME EXAMPLE: CROWDSTRIKE
On Feb 20th at 1 PM ET, Claude announced Claude Code Security
— automated vulnerability scanning.
Two trading days later:
CrowdStrike erased $20B in market cap.
Markets price future margin destruction instantly.
But commoditization has always expanded economies:
PCs commoditized computing
Internet commoditized distribution
Cloud commoditized infrastructure
AI is commoditizing cognition.
THE DOOM LOOP ASSUMES DEMAND IS FIXED
Bear case:
AI improves → jobs cut → consumption falls → more AI adoption → repeat
History says cheaper production expands demand massively.
When compute got cheaper, we didn’t consume the same amount cheaper —
we built entirely new industries.
AI reduces costs across every sector.
When services get cheaper, purchasing power rises — even without wage growth.
The doom loop only dominates if demand doesn’t expand.
THE REAL SHOCK IS PRICE COLLAPSE, NOT LAYOFFS
Layoffs are visible.
Price compression is systemic.
Knowledge work has been expensive because knowledge was scarce.
AI makes knowledge abundant.
Legal docs
Tax prep
Marketing
Coding
Customer service
Healthcare admin
All become cheaper simultaneously.
The U.S. economy is primarily services — nearly 80% of GDP.
Lower service costs function like an invisible tax cut.
Small businesses become easier to start.
Households access more services.
FROM “GHOST GDP” TO “ABUNDANCE GDP”
Ghost GDP = output growth that doesn’t help households
Abundance GDP = output growth + falling living costs
Real wealth comes from prices falling faster than incomes.
That’s how productivity gains reach society.
Electricity, antibiotics, the internet — all disruptive at first.
All permanently raised living standards.
LABOR MARKETS RESTRUCTURE — THEY DON’T VANISH
AI hits white-collar roles hardest.
But it struggles with:
Physical dexterity
Real-world environments
Human trust
Identity-driven services
Trades, healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality — durable demand.
AI also lowers barriers to entrepreneurship:
One person can now run a company that once required a team.
We are structurally bullish on small businesses.
THE WEALTH GAP CONTEXT
Equity ownership is heavily concentrated:
AI could either widen or flatten this divide depending on access.
If tools democratize productivity → broader participation
If not → concentration accelerates
This is the real policy battleground.
SaaS IS EVOLVING — NOT DYING
Traditional SaaS faces pricing pressure.
But software isn’t disappearing.
It’s becoming:
Agent-driven
Outcome-based
Adaptive
Integrated
Static workflow tools struggle.
Platforms owning data, compute, trust, energy win.
Transition ≠ collapse.
AI COMMERCE & STABLECOINS
Lower friction increases transaction volume.
Markets always reward efficiency.
Stablecoin usage exploding is early proof.
Agentic commerce compresses margins but expands activity.
PRODUCTIVITY IS THE MASTER VARIABLE
If AI delivers sustained productivity gains across:
Healthcare
Government
Energy
Manufacturing
Logistics
Then abundance becomes inevitable.
Even +1–2% annual productivity compounds massively.
ABUNDANCE REDUCES CONFLICT
Wars historically stem from scarcity.
AI lowers production costs → expands supply → reduces zero-sum competition.
Economic security reduces geopolitical aggression.
Abundance changes incentives.
CONCLUSION — WHAT IF THE WORLD DOESN’T END?
AI amplifies outcomes.
It can amplify fragility — or prosperity.
Anthropic shocks signal repricing, not collapse.
Every major technological revolution looked destabilizing early.
The most underpriced scenario today isn’t dystopia.
It’s abundance.
The difference between:
Global Intelligence Crisis
and
Global Intelligence Boom
…is adaptation.
Humanity has always adapted.
-Cole