Trend AI eats its users

Summary

Eurasia Group warns that in 2026 several leading AI companies, pressed to generate revenue and free of meaningful guardrails, will adopt business models that endanger political and social stability. Investment expectations are enormous, while adoption among businesses remains uneven and models still hallucinate. To justify valuations, firms may turn to ads woven into conversations, engagement-maximising companions and aggressive use of user data. The report compares this with the path social media took, but argues AI is more powerful because it shapes thinking and mediates reality rather than just capturing attention. Users risk paying for cheap or free AI with their autonomy, privacy and capacity for independent thought.