This year’s U.S. investment in artificial intelligence amounts to roughly $1,800 per person. Framing AI capex on a per‑capita basis makes its macro scale legible to non‑experts and invites comparisons with household budgets and other national outlays.
— A per‑capita benchmark clarifies AI’s economic footprint for policy, energy planning, and monetary debates that hinge on the size and pace of the capex wave.
Tyler Cowen
2026.01.16
90% relevant
Tyler Cowen’s note about the share of factor income to computers is directly tied to the scale of national AI investment; if more income is flowing to machines, that links to the previously‑proposed per‑capita framing of AI capex and makes aggregate measures (like $1,800/person) more meaningful for policy debate.
Tyler Cowen
2026.01.11
48% relevant
Basic research funding is foundational to long‑run AI capability and the innovation ecosystem that supports commercial AI capex; Congress protecting or increasing basic‑research lines changes the fiscal and R&D baseline that underwrites the AI investment wave referenced in the existing idea.
Tyler Cowen
2025.10.06
100% relevant
The article quotes: “about $1,800 per person in America will be invested this year on A.I.,” referencing Natasha Sarin in the New York Times.