Scott Bessent gives AI companies a D-minus on public outreach

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent likes artificial intelligence. He is much less impressed with the people selling it. At a speaking engagement on September 2, 2026, Bessent gave AI companies and hyperscalers a D-minus for how they explain their technology to the American public. A cheerleader with a red pen Bessent’s critique was not aimed at the technology itself. He praised the advances coming out of the sector and urged companies to get better at showing why those advances matter. Specifically, he wants the industry to make the case for AI’s value to national security and everyday quality of life. He also said the job does not fall on the companies alone. In Bessent’s framing, government shares the responsibility for communicating what AI can do. The economic case, according to Bessent Bessent has argued that capital spending on AI will be extremely disinflationary, meaning it should help push price growth down rather than up. He has suggested those effects could possibly show up within six months from September. He returned to that theme on October 21, 2026, at a closed-door investor conference in New York. There, he said he saw no systemic problem with the current AI boom. He ...