On The Record (5-26-26).

On The Record (5-26-26).

From Unf*cking The Republic by UNFTR Media

May 26, 2026 · 23 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of AI investment on the economy and consumer sentiment amidst rising inflation and gas prices.

This week we looked at the AI capital black hole—three companies with a combined $3 trillion in prospective market cap preparing to go public while public R&D budgets get gutted and the rest of the economy gets starved of investment. Then we checked in on consumer sentiment, which has basically fallen off a cliff, because when gas hits $5 a gallon and inflation keeps eating your paycheck, reality has a way of setting in. Chapters Intro: 00:00:38 Quick Takes: 00:01:33 Max Notes: 00:04:47 Killer Left Take of the Week: 00:18:17 Chart of the Week: 00:20:03 Headlines: 00:21:38 Outro: 00:22:57 Resources Remarkably Bright Creatures The Vanguard: Jillian Michaels ROASTED by Her OWN AUDIENCE After Sam Seder SMACKDOWN (Plus She Calls US Out???) CNBC International Live: Jeff Currie on potential U.S.-Iran peace deal: Sell the tweet, buy the molecule National Science Foundation: Trends in U.S. R&D Performance and Funding Goldman Sachs: Tracking Trillions: The Assumptions Shaping the Scale of the AI Build-Out CNBC: Tech AI spending may approach $700 billion this year, but the blow to cash raises red flags McKinsey: The cost of compute: A $7 trillion race to scale data centers IG…

Topics covered

  • AI investment
  • consumer sentiment
  • inflation
  • public R&D
  • IPO
  • market cap

Keywords

  • AI
  • IPO
  • inflation
  • consumer sentiment
  • market cap
  • public R&D
  • investment

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: OpenAI, SpaceX, Anthropic, Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, National Science Foundation, Bankrate, WIPO

Books & works: Remarkably Bright Creatures

Places: United States

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