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If enthusiasm for generative AI cools, he says, the effects could ripple outward through pension funds, real-estate investment trusts, and other lenders.\nVan Nieuwerburgh says it’s vital that policymakers and investors monitor how money is flowing through the system and watch out for signs of crisis. “It’s very hard to get the timing right with these big build-outs, and often what ends up happening is we get overexcited and accrue too much debt,” he says. “That doesn’t mean these are not important, productive investments. What I’m arguing is that we need to be careful and think through the risks.”","image_url":"https://magazine.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/facebook_sharing_1200x630/public/2026-08/Exp_data-centers.jpg?itok=oCSEetqL","lang":"en","published_at":"2026-09-15T12:26:12+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-09-15T14:15:05+00:00","status":"read","starred":0,"extract_state":"ok","summary_auto":"It’s easy to think of AI as a kind of software magic floating in the cloud. 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