Tech in 2026: Inside the AI bubble

Is 2026 the year that AI hype meets reality? In a new mini-series from Tech Tonic, the FT’s tech editor Murad Ahmed speaks with the paper’s reporters about what they'll be watching. Do tech industry insiders think the huge amounts of capital that have driven the AI boom will continue? How will challenges to large-language model AI systems play out this year? And are chief executives expecting AI technologies to force job cuts? In this episode, we hear from the FT’s venture capital correspondent George Hammond, AI correspondent Melissa Heikkilä and writer of the AI Shift newsletter Sarah O’Connor for their views on AI’s financial faultlines, how the technology will evolve and what kind of disruptions to expect in the world of work. Free to read: SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic prepare to launch landmark IPOs Computer scientist Yann LeCun: ‘Intelligence really is about learning’ The AI Shift: Agentic AI is coming for quantitative research Subscribe to The AI Shift newsletter, an essential deep-dive into how artificial intelligence is reshaping the world of work This series of Tech Tonic is hosted by Murad Ahmed and produced by Josh Gabert-Doyon. The senior producer for Tech Tonic is Edwin Lane. Flo Phillips is the executive producer. Sound design by Breen Turner and Samantha Giovinco. Original music by Metaphor Music. Cheryl Brumley is the FT’s global head of audio. The FT does not use generative AI to voice its podcasts. A previous version of this podcast made a statement about Klarna's use of AI that the company has disputed. The reference has since been removed. Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com