The AI boom is built on a series of bets that the logic of exponential growth will drive the future.

How it works: Exponential doesn't just mean "number keeps going up." It means "number keeps going up faster."

The industry's belief is that perpetually steepening curves will continue to... • improve AI technology itself; • accelerate human demand for its fruits; and • supercharge society's ability to quench AI's thirst for chips, power and data.

Why it matters: The tech industry's gamble is one that the rest of the world has now bought into by shoveling trillions of dollars onto the table.

Friction point: AI makers expect AI itself to reinforce its own progress in a virtuous cycle. Skeptics fear AI will hit a wall and trigger a global financial meltdown.

Exponential curves, with

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