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AI Expectations Underpin the Economic Outlook for 2026

31 December 2025
2 min read
By Broadridge Content

Originally from Broadridge Content. Read the original article on the publisher’s site.

At their December meeting, Federal Reserve officials estimated that the U.S. economy grew 1.7% in 2025, a year plagued by uncertainty around costly new tariffs. The forecast for 2026 growth was raised to 2.3% — a significant jump from the 1.8% rate previously forecasted in September. In a post-meeting press conference, Chairman Powell acknowledged that the increase was partly due to surging private investment in data centers and other business spending related to artificial intelligence (AI). 1