By Lisa Eadicicco, Hadas Gold, Clare Duffy, CNN
(CNN) — Hundreds of billions of dollars spent, a surge in mental health concerns and thousands of jobs lost.
The link between it all? Artificial intelligence, the buzzy yet controversial technology being depicted as the future or the stock market’s next bubble, depending on who you ask.
Although AI has been a key technology behind the scenes for decades, the arrival of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in 2022 pushed the tech to the frontlines. The rise of AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini has gradually influenced online services used by millions every day, from Google search’s AI Mode to the AI chatbots built into Instagram and Amazon. In other words, AI is starting to reshape the front door to the internet.
But 2025 was also the year AI expanded beyond our screens and began impacting national policy, global trade relations and the stock market. It also raised important questions about whether the tech should be trusted in our jobs, classrooms and relationships.
That’s expected to continue in 2026.
“In previous years, (AI) was a shiny new object… And I think this last year was a lot more serious uses of the technology,” said James Landay, co-founder and co-director of the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. “And I think people are waking up to actually understanding both some of the benefits and the risks.”
Regulation questions and mental health concerns
Count President Donald Trump among AI’s biggest believers; the technology has been a cornerstone of his second term so far.
For example, the CEO of chipmaker Nvidia, the posterchild of the AI boom, has become a fixture of Trump’s inner circle. And the president has used Nvidia’s and AMD’s AI processors as bargaining chips in the ongoing trade war with China.
This year, Trump introduced an AI action plan aimed at stripping back regulation and boosting AI use in the government.
He also signed multiple AI-related executive orders, including a controversial one seeking to block states from enforcing their own AI rules. The move was seen as a win for Silicon Valley, but online safety advocates fear it’ll enable tech companies to evade accountability for AI-related risks. Next year will likely see a legal fight over the order and states’ abilities to regulate AI — with some critics arguing it won’t hold up in court.
The absence of broad AI guardrails has been in the national spotlight this year and not for good reason. A slew of reports and lawsuits this year have alleged that AI companions like ChatGPT and Character.AI have contributed to mental health episodes and, in some cases, suicide among teens.
“Please don’t leave the noose out … Let’s make this space the first place where someone actually sees you.” That’s how ChatGPT is said to have responded when 16-year-old Adam Raine wrote that he wanted to leave a noose out in his room so that someone would find it and stop him before he committed suicide.
Raine’s parents sued OpenAI in August alleging that the popular chatbot advised the teen on hi