Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™.
Overhyped tech sectors of cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence have seen a recent resurgence in the past year. Most of AI’s rise can be attributed to the hype and fear that surrounds its use.
If you ask OpenAI CEO Sam Altman his thoughts, he’ll tell you that AI is needed to bring us into the future, but to scientists like Dr. Joy Buolamwini who approaches the use of AI cautiously, its lack of regulation can prove harmful to people of color. Despite doubts about the use of AI technology, it’s become almost ubiquitous in culture. Students have used ChatGPT for essay assignments, workers are using ChatGPT to write emails, and others have suggested using AI to create something as simple as grocery lists and corresponding menus. But even as AI and cryptocurrency continue to experience unprecedented growth, experts predict that AI will reach its peak in 2025 and then burst.
Still, a second Donald Trump presidency has big tech leaders and supporters of crypto and AI feeling optimistic about how these sectors will grow in the next four years. President-elect Trump has already appointed several pro-crypto and pro-AI enthusiasts into his administration. In December 2024, Trump named Paul Atkins as his pick for chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Atkins served as an SEC commissioner from 2002 to 2008 and has recently been known for backing cryptocurrency and being pro-business. Trump also added David Sacks, a former PayPal executive, in a new role as “White House A.I. and Crypto Czar.” Since AI has gone viral, every business has attempted to jump on the bandwagon.
A few years ago, Trump wasn’t the biggest fan of technology, dismissing cryptocurrencies as fake. But in a reversal last summer, he declared that he would make the United States, “the crypto capital of the planet” and has hinted at creating a federal bitcoin reserve. Trump has even boosted his support for the AI industry, claiming that the technology would offer great use in matters of national security. The Republican National Committee adopted a pro-cryptocurrency platform, and during the 2024 election the Trump campaign announced that it would accept donations in crypto. According to PBS News, the crypto industry is optimistic that they could make progress with Trump — who was once a skeptic — on their side. “We’re very hopeful that a Trump administration and a much more pro-crypto Congress will make significant progress and build in the basic building blocks of what an effective regulatory framework should be around the crypto markets,” said Faryar Shirzad, chief policy officer of Coinbase.
Trump also announced his plans to rescind President Joe Biden’s 2023 executive order on AI, which ordered protections and regulations around its use. Trump has been on the record stating that the order “hinders AI innovation, and imposes radical leftwing ideas on the development of this technology.” With his supposed friendliness towards generative AI, we should expect the incoming administration to peel back any regulatory legislation or efforts that could potentially protect the American people from the harmful effects of AI.
While some experts deem the industry one that could sustain growth in the coming years, it comes accompanied by a huge risk for investors and those who don’t completely understand the industry and how it works. And for many other experts, the rush to capitalize on the wealth of these technologies is reminiscent of the dot.com bubble. Similar to NFTs and the metaverse, AI and cryptocurrency are just the latest in a long line of new technologies being explored.
According to Reuters, the European Central Bank (ECB) has expressed concerns about the AI bubble bursting if certain expectations aren’t met: “This concentration among a few large firms raises concerns over the possibility of an AI-related asset price bubble. Also, in a context of deeply integrated global equity markets, it points to the risk of adverse global spillovers, should earnings expectations for these firms be disappointed.”
Nvidia, a company that computes graphic processing units (GPUs) for AI data centers, is one such company that has benefited from the AI boom. Since 2023, it has reached more than $3 trillion in market value, expecting to soar even more in the new year. After the 2024 election, AI companies and cryptocurrencies have increased in value. But Trump’s plan to impose a 60% tariff on U.S. imports from China, could prompt a trade war and negatively affect AI companies in China. If the top two economies in the world come to a head, the AI bubble will burst sooner than we think.
Although having an incoming president who is willing to disregard regulations and procedures bodes well for the biggest leaders in AI and cryptocurrency, investors have overestimated the use of AI in everyday life. The technology is still new and still needs to mature since its release has quickly been deployed without concrete plans on how it can properly be used.
