A report by Citrini Research, where analysts warned of an economic collapse due to artificial intelligence, partially triggered a sell-off in shares of software and payment service companies.
JUNE 2028.
The S&P is down 38% from its highs. Unemployment just printed 10.2%. Private credit is unraveling. Prime mortgages are cracking. AI didn’t disappoint. It exceeded every expectation.
What happened?https://t.co/JzzwCrbJgS
— Citrini (@Citrini7) February 22, 2026
The Global Intelligence Crisis has garnered 24.4 million views on X at the time of writing. The document states that AI agents can significantly boost corporate profits and render human labor unnecessary. Such a situation would trigger a recession.
The report outlines a grim scenario for June 2028:
- The S&P 500 index fell by 38% from its historical high;
- Unemployment exceeded 10%;
- The private credit market collapsed;
- Mortgage agreements are “cracking at the seams.”
According to researchers, the process is gradual:
- Initial layoffs in offices appear positive for markets—margins grow, profits hit records, wages decrease.
- Agents evolve and can assemble a product equivalent in weeks, putting pressure on prices and reducing revenue.
- Assistants eliminate business intermediaries, finding the cheapest payment tools like stablecoins in low-fee networks.
- Layoffs hit demand as people stop spending due to unemployment.
- Defaults are declared on loans, and the problem shifts to the insurance sector.
- Issues arise in the mortgage market, intensifying asset sell-offs.
- Tax revenues fall, leading to discussions on inference levies or “dividends” from AI infrastructure.
Stock Declines
IBM shares experienced their largest one-day drop in 25 years, plummeting by 13.1%.
Shares of Microsoft, Oracle, and Accenture fell by 3.21%, 4.57%, and 6.58% respectively. Payment companies Visa, Mastercard, and American Express recorded declines of 4-7%.
Concerns intensified following Anthropic’s success. The company announced that Claude can optimize COBOL code, which primarily runs on IBM systems.
It’s official:
IBM stock, $IBM, just posted its worst day since October 2000 after Anthropic announced that Claude can streamline COBOL code.
Today is the day AI became dystopian for millions of people. pic.twitter.com/OHaVWbZrdT
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) February 23, 2026
Citrini experts emphasized that the spread of AI agents like Anthropic’s Claude Code or OpenAI’s Codex will lead to an economic shift: the need for human labor will decrease, and companies will be forced to reinvest saved funds into more powerful systems. This will create a closed loop, accelerating the displacement of workers and reducing consumer spending.
Earlier, shares of leading public companies in the cybersecurity sector fell after the launch of an AI vulnerability scanner in Claude Code Security.
