The writer is chair of Rockefeller International. His latest book is ‘What Went Wrong With Capitalism’
It’s hard to recall a time when global markets were so obsessed with a single storyline. The AI boom is now so powerful and widespread in nature that it is overwhelming all other drivers of returns and shaping a new AI-based world order.
The relative performance of the world’s major stock markets over the past year can be explained by how much exposure they have to AI. Nations with a large foothold in the “stack” of industries developing AI infrastructure and services are massively outperforming, while those without are lagging by record margins. The winners include the US and China, thanks above all to their foundational AI models; Taiwan and South Korea on the strength of chip manufacturers; Japan and Israel on a broad array of AI skills.