Artificial intelligence is not alleviating inflation in the US. Instead, it is exacerbating price pressures. According to estimates from CIBC Capital Markets, the current investment boom in AI is expected to add approximately 0.4 percentage points to the annual inflation rate in 2026.

Analysts point out that the promised productivity gains from the implementation of neural networks will only emerge in the future. Meanwhile, the massive costs associated with building infrastructure are already pushing prices higher. The surging demand for data centers, chips, software, construction materials, and transportation has driven the cost of computing equipment and utility services, particularly energy, well above historical averages.

As of May, these components alone contributed roughly 0.3 percentage points to the US Personal Consumption Expenditures price index. Experts emphasize that the actual spike in technology prices has yet to be fully reflected in official macroeconomic statistics.

In addition to the direct increase in equipment costs, AI is overheating the US economy as a whole. Capital investments in IT, software, and data center construction are expected to contribute an additional 0.4 percentage points to real GDP growth in 2026. Furthermore, the so-called "wealth effect" from the stock market rally of AI-related companies is likely to add another 0.2 percentage points, stimulating consumer spending among Americans. As a result, neural networks could account for nearly 30% of the overall US economic growth this year.

However, such rapid growth has strained economic reserves and created classic inflationary pressure. CIBC estimates that the widening output gap will contribute an additional 0.13 percentage points to annual inflation. In total, the direct and indirect contributions of artificial intelligence to rising prices will amount to that same 0.4 percentage points, leaving regulators with little room to maneuver.