AI boom powers Asia as risks begin to rise, World Bank warns of AI spending reversal

The AI boom is powering growth across East Asia, but the world bank says that dependence could also become a vulnerability. The bank has raised its 2026 growth forecast for the region to 4.5 percent, with ai-related goods driving more than half of export growth in most economies. But with hundreds of billions of dollars flowing into AI investment, the world bank is warning: if the AI spending boom reverses, the region could feel the pain.