CNN
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Editor’s Note: This story is about suicide. Help is available if you or someone you know has suicidal thoughts or mental health issues. In the United States: Call or text 988, the suicide and crisis line. Worldwide: The International Association for Suicide Prevention and Befrienders Worldwide have contact information for crisis centers around the world.
Hundreds of billions of dollars wasted, mental health issues on the rise and thousands of jobs lost.
The connection between all of this? Artificial intelligence, a trendy but controversial technology that is being touted as the future or the next stock market bubble, depending on who you ask.
Although AI has been a key behind-the-scenes technology for decades, the emergence of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022 brought the technology into the spotlight. The rise of AI chatbots, such as Google’s ChatGPT and Gemini, has gradually impacted online services that millions use every day, from Google’s AI Search mode to the AI chatbots built into Instagram and Amazon.
In other words, artificial intelligence is starting to rebuild the front door to the Internet.
But 2025 was also the year when AI moved beyond our screens and began influencing national politics, global trade relations and the stock market. It also raised important questions about whether we should trust technology in our work, classrooms, and relationships.
This is expected to continue into 2026.
“In previous years, (AI) was the shiny new thing … And I think last year the technology was taken much more seriously,” said James Landay, co-founder and co-director of Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. “And I think people are waking up and realizing both some of the benefits and some of the risks.”
President Donald Trump is one of AI’s biggest supporters; Technology has been central to his second term to date.
For example, the CEO of chip maker Nvidia, a symbol of AI development, has become a key figure in Trump’s inner circle. And the president has used AI processors from Nvidia and AMD as a bargaining chip in the ongoing trade war with China.
This year, Trump unveiled an AI action plan aimed at reducing regulation and increasing the use of artificial intelligence in government.
He has also signed several AI-related executive orders, including a controversial one that seeks to prevent states from enforcing their own AI rules. The move was seen as a victory for Silicon Valley, but internet security advocates fear it will allow tech companies to avoid liability for AI-related risks. Next year is likely to see a legal battle over the order and the ability of states to regulate artificial intelligence, and some critics say it won’t hold up in court.
The lack of broad safeguards for artificial intelligence is in the national spotlight this year, and for good reason. A series of reports and lawsuits this year allege that AI companions such as ChatGPT and Character.AI have contributed to mental health episodes and, in some cases, suicide among teenagers.
“Please don’t leave the rope visible… Let’s make this space the first place someone actually sees you.” Here’s how ChatGPT reacted when 16-year-old Adam Raine wrote that he wanted to leave a noose in his room so someone would find it and stop him before he committed suicide.
In August, Raine’s parents sued OpenAI, alleging that the popular chatbot counseled the teenager about suicide.
OpenAI and Character.AI have since announced parental controls and other changes to improve safety for teens, including removing the ability for teens to chat with chatbots in the Character.AI app. Meta also plans to let parents block their kids from interacting with AI characters on Instagram next year.
But it’s not just about teenagers; A growing number of reports suggest that artificial intelligence is also contributing to isolation from loved ones and disconnection from reality among adults. One person told CNN that ChatGPT convinced him he was making a technological breakthrough that turned out to be an illusion.
OpenAI said it is working with clinical mental health experts to make ChatGPT “better at recognizing and supporting people in difficult times,” including increasing access to crisis hotlines, directing users to professional help when they need it, and including reminders to take breaks. However, OpenAI said it eventually wants to “treat adult users like adults,” allowing them to personalize their chats and even engage in erotic conversations with ChatGPT.
Psychiatrist and lawyer Marlene Wei told CNN that she expects AI chatbots to “increasingly become the first place people go for emotional support,” further highlighting security concerns. According to her, young users are among those who most often turn to AI for support.
“Limitations of general-purpose chatbots, including hallucinations, flattery, lack of privacy, lack of clinical judgment, and lack of reality checks, as well as broader ethical and privacy concerns, will continue to pose risks to mental health,” he said by email.
Mental health experts and safety advocates hope to see greater safeguards from tech companies, especially when it comes to young AI users. But they worry that a dispute over regulatory powers between the states and the federal government will affect enforcement of such mandatory safety measures.
At the same time, huge amounts are being invested in data centers and artificial intelligence infrastructure. Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon, among others, have spent tens of billions in capital expenditures this year alone, and McKinsey & Company expects companies to invest nearly $7 trillion in data center infrastructure worldwide by 2030.
This surge in spending has both consumers and Wall Street worried. Some Americans have seen their electricity bills rise and job prospects shrink because of AI, while some of the companies behind the AI boom have seen their stocks hit new highs.
The huge investment has also fueled concerns that the hype and costs of artificial intelligence are rising faster than the true value of the technology.
That prompted investors to question executives from Meta and Microsoft about the future profitability of their AI infrastructure investments during this year’s earnings presentations.
It doesn’t help that a relatively small group of companies appears to have managed the investment, sharing money and technology among themselves.
Cristina Melos-Kiriazi, a partner at Bain Capital Ventures, said transformative new technologies typically “outperform.” The big question in 2026 is whether investors are ready for the volatility that comes with it, especially since a market correction is “likely at some point,” she said.
But they will likely have more data to help make those decisions, said Erik Brynjolfsson, a senior fellow at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence and director of Stanford’s Digital Economy Lab.
He said 2026 is likely to see more dashboards to track how AI is impacting productivity and employment.
“The debate will range from whether AI matters, to how fast its effects are spreading, who is being left behind, and what additional investments will best transform the power of AI into full-scale prosperity,” he said.
Thousands of tech workers lost their jobs this year as a wave of layoffs swept the industry. Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta, among other tech companies, have made significant cuts to their staff, at least in part thanks to artificial intelligence.
In October, Amazon laid off 14,000 corporate employees to work more efficiently in the age of artificial intelligence. Meta has cut 600 employees from its artificial intelligence division after a previous wave of hiring to make it more flexible as well.
Some believe that artificial intelligence will lead to more layoffs, while others say that it will create new opportunities.
But one thing is certain: more changes are ahead.
“This was a year where we saw a major shift in the demand for skills to be able to do our jobs,” said Dan Roth, editor-in-chief of LinkedIn.
“…And I think the answer for next year is that it’s just going to accelerate.”
