Fortune 500 CEOs ranked AI and "new technology" as the top risk to their industry, in a survey out this morning.

Why it matters: It's a little surprising, given that many CEOs have been ride-or-die on the new technology.

The big picture: AI is roiling the markets and companies to a degree that is shaking up even the companies believed to be on the right side of history.

State of play: Your business can now get knocked off its axis by all manner of doomsday content. A viral report, a post on X or even an announcement by a former karaoke company turned trucking firm can send a stock a tumblin'.

Zoom in: AI or new technology was identified as a top concern by 60% of the 142 CEOs surveyed in early February by the Conference Board, a nonpartisan think tank, and the Business Council, an association of CEOs.

• It ranked third the previous quarter. At the end of 2025, geopolitical risk was the top concern (59%), followed by "cyber" (56%) and AI (53%).
• Since the Conference Board started asking CEOs about AI in 2024, this marks the first time the technology topped the list.

Zoom out: The survey, conducted quarterly, is closely watched for its gauge of confidence among business leaders.

Reality check: AI isn't making the CEOs feel that bad, to be sure.

• CEO confidence overall jumped into positive territory from the previous quarter, rising 11 points to a score of 59 (anything above 50 is positive).
• The increase mirrored a similar uptick among consumers, according to a separate Conference Board measure out earlier this week.

Friction point: "Confidence" is a squishy category.

• For years, there was a link between how everyday Americans felt about the economy and their actual economic behavior. Greater consumer confidence would translate to more spending, and was a leading indicator.
• Recently, that connection has broken down.

Case in point: For CEOs, confidence still matters. Those vibes are important when it comes to hiring and spending decisions that leaders make.

Where it stands: The increase in confidence in the first quarter appears to line up with more spending plans for companies.

The intrigue: Confidence doesn't seem to be translating to more hiring.

• The share of CEOs planning to increase the size of their workforce over the next 12 months slipped at the start of the year.
• Still, the share of the leaders expecting to cut jobs also declined, another sign that we're in a low-hire, low-fire moment.

The bottom line: Even AI's biggest boosters can't escape the growing sense of anxiety around the technology.

Nvidia reported blockbuster earnings yesterday.

Why it matters: Its earnings reports have effectively become the stock market's quarterly State of the Union, and they can quickly change the conversation among investors from AI bubble fears to AI boom hopes.

The big picture: Nvidia makes the chips that power AI, and investors have been into that core infrastructure role for a while now.

Where it stands: What's changed recently is the way investors are looking at software, with some businesses looking more risky in light of AI.

Zoom in: Where you really find love for AI infrastructure is in Asia. The South Korean stock market, powered by the strength of semiconductor makers such as Samsung and Hynix, is surging.

State of play: "Investors are questioning the sustainability of recurring sales at legacy tech firms," Shuli Ren writes in Bloomberg Opinion.

• "Meanwhile, they are clamoring for semiconductor manufacturers."

The bottom line: Hardware > software.

Check the chart: Nvidia is its bringing main character energy into 2026, as the AI chipmaker's name increasingly comes up on other company's earnings calls.

By the numbers: In the last three months of 2025, Nvidia was name-checked in 234 earnings calls, up from 160 over the same period the previous year.

AI may be siphoning off investment dollars that once flowed to energy startups, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency.

Why it matters: The global shift is a stark, data-driven sign of the times. Climate ambition is collapsing just as the AI race accelerates.

Driving the news: Some of the world's largest venture capital funds that back energy startups have redirected at least part of their capital toward AI.

• Across the 50 biggest funds investing in energy, specialization in energy innovation has slowed since 2022, tracking with a rise in AI investments, the report finds.

Reality check: At the macro level, this is correlation, not clear causation.

• It would take a deeper dive into individual deals to determine who's truly losing — and who's winning — at the other's expense.

Between the lines: There's an irony here. The AI boom's biggest need — energy — may be getting financially undercut by the boom itself.

Reality check: AI isn't the only factor, the report says. Higher interest rates and other market pressures are also dampening energy investment.

What to watch: To what degree the AI surge ultimately pulls more money back into energy innovation to power its own growth.

What comes next: Major tech companies are pledging billions for clean energy, from fusion to geothermal, potentially reshaping the investment landscape yet again.

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