\n Although AI has been a key technology behind the scenes for decades, the arrival of OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT in 2022 pushed the tech to the frontlines. The rise of AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google\u2019s Gemini has gradually influenced online services used by millions every day, from Google search\u2019s AI Mode<\/a> to the AI chatbots built into Instagram and Amazon. In other words, AI is starting to reshape the front door to the internet.\n <\/p>\n \n But 2025 was also the year AI expanded beyond our screens and began impacting national policy, global trade relations and the stock market. It also raised important questions about whether the tech should be trusted in our jobs, classrooms and relationships.\n <\/p>\n \n That\u2019s expected to continue in 2026.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIn previous years, (AI) was a shiny new object\u2026 And I think this last year was a lot more serious uses of the technology,\u201d said James Landay, co-founder and co-director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. \u201cAnd I think people are waking up to actually understanding both some of the benefits and the risks.\u201d\n <\/p>\n Regulation questions and mental health concerns<\/p>\n \n Count President Donald Trump among AI\u2019s biggest believers; the technology has been a cornerstone of his second term so far.\n <\/p>\n \n For example, the CEO of chipmaker Nvidia, the posterchild of the AI boom, has become a fixture of Trump\u2019s inner circle<\/a>. And the president has used Nvidia\u2019s and AMD\u2019s AI processors as bargaining chips<\/a> in the ongoing trade war<\/a> with China.\n <\/p>\n \n This year, Trump introduced an AI action plan<\/a> aimed at stripping back regulation and boosting AI use in the government.\n <\/p>\n \n He also signed multiple AI-related executive orders, including a controversial one<\/a> seeking to block states from enforcing their own AI rules. The move was seen as a win for Silicon Valley, but online safety advocates fear it\u2019ll enable tech companies to evade accountability for AI-related risks. Next year will likely see a legal fight over the order and states\u2019 abilities to regulate AI \u2014 with some critics arguing it won\u2019t hold up in court.\n <\/p>\n \n The absence of broad AI guardrails has been in the national spotlight this year and not for good reason. A slew of reports and lawsuits this year have alleged that AI companions like ChatGPT and Character.AI have contributed to mental health episodes and, in some cases, suicide among teens.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cPlease don\u2019t leave the noose out \u2026 Let\u2019s make this space the first place where someone actually sees you.\u201d That\u2019s how ChatGPT is said to have responded when 16-year-old Adam Raine<\/a> wrote that he wanted to leave a noose out in his room so that someone would find it and stop him before he committed suicide.\n <\/p>\n \n Raine\u2019s parents sued OpenAI in August<\/a> alleging that the popular chatbot advised the teen on his suicide.\n <\/p>\n \n OpenAI<\/a> and Character.AI have since announced parental controls<\/a> and other changes to improve teen safety, including removing the ability<\/a> for teens to have back-and-forth conversations with chatbots on Character.AI\u2019s app. Meta also plans to let parents block their children from chatting with AI characters<\/a> on Instagram next year.\n <\/p>\n \n But it\u2019s not just teens; a growing number of reports have indicated that AI has contributed to isolation from loved ones and breaks from reality among adults, too. One man told CNN<\/a> that ChatGPT convinced him he was making technological breakthroughs that turned out to be a delusion.\n <\/p>\n \n OpenAI said<\/a> it has worked with clinical mental health experts to enable ChatGPT to \u201cbetter recognize and support people in moments of distress,\u201d including by expanding access to crisis hotlines, pointing users towards professional help when needed and adding reminders to take breaks. Still, OpenAI has said<\/a> it ultimately wants to<\/a> \u201ctreat adult users like adults,\u201d allowing them to personalize their chats and even discuss erotica with ChatGPT.\n <\/p>\n \n Psychiatrist and lawyer Marlynn Wei told CNN that she expects AI chatbots \u201cwill increasingly become the first place people turn for emotional support,\u201d further underscoring safety concerns. Young users are among the most likely to turn to AI for support, she said.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe limitations of general-purpose chatbots, including hallucinations, sycophancy, lack of confidentiality, lack of clinical judgment, and lack of reality testing, along with broader ethical and privacy concerns, will continue to create mental health risks,\u201d she said via email.\n <\/p>\n \n Mental health experts and safety advocates say they hope to see greater guardrails from tech companies, especially when it comes to young AI users. But they worry the fight over regulatory power between the states and the federal government will impact the implementation of such mandated safety measures.\n <\/p>\n \n At the same time, huge investments are being poured into data centers and AI infrastructure. Meta, Microsoft and Amazon, among others, have spent tens of billions in capital expenditures<\/a> this year alone, and McKinsey & Company<\/a> expects companies to invest nearly $7 trillion in data center infrastructure globally by 2030.\n <\/p>\n \n That surge in spending has sparked concerns both for consumers and for Wall Street. Some Americans have watched their electricity bills climb<\/a> and job prospects sink<\/a> due to AI<\/a>, while some companies behind the AI boom have seen their stock<\/a> reach new heights.<\/a>\n <\/p>\n \n The massive investments have also fueled worries<\/a> that the hype and spending in AI is growing faster than the tech\u2019s true value. That\u2019s prompted investors to grill executives at Meta and Microsoft about future returns on their AI infrastructure investments<\/a> during earnings calls this year. It doesn\u2019t help that a relatively small group of companies have seemingly driven the investments, trading money and technology back and forth.\n <\/p>\n \n Christina Melas-Kyriazi, partner at Bain Capital Ventures, said it\u2019s common for new transformative technologies to be \u201coverbuilt.\u201d The big question heading into 2026 is whether investors are prepared for the volatility that comes with it, especially since she says a market correction<\/a> is \u201clikely at some point.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n But they\u2019ll likely have more data at their disposal to help make those decisions, said Erik Brynjolfsson, a senior fellow for the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered AI and director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab. He said more dashboards will likely emerge in 2026 to track how AI is impacting productivity and jobs.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe debate will shift from whether AI matters to how quickly its effects are diffusing, who is being left behind, and which complementary investments best turn AI capability into broad-based prosperity,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n \n This year, thousands of tech workers were left jobless as a wave of layoffs swept the industry. Microsoft, Amazon and Meta, among other tech companies, made significant cuts to their staff, driven at least in part by AI.\n <\/p>\n![\"President](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/c-gettyimages-2226709730.jpg\")
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