FIRST ON FOX: A new report is pushing back on artificial intelligence “doomsday” fears, arguing the technology could unleash one of the biggest productivity booms in American history — unless Washington slows it down with premature regulation.

The Unleash Prosperity report, titled “Boomsday Not Doomsday,” argues AI is more than another software tool, saying it could make expertise cheaper, expand access to services and raise living standards.

“I would say that, because of AI, we are headed toward the single greatest productivity revolution in American history,” Stephen Moore, co-founder of Unleash Prosperity, told FOX Business. “There’s almost no question about it.”

Critics, however, warn that AI also carries serious risks, including job losses, cyberattacks, disinformation and misuse by bad actors. Some experts worry companies and countries may rush to develop AI too quickly, putting speed ahead of safety.

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Rows of servers glow inside a data center. The new report argues AI could spark one of the biggest productivity booms in American history. (iStock / iStock)

The Unleash Prosperity report says that AI could help doctors spend more time with patients, allow teachers to personalize lessons, help builders cut delays, improve manufacturing quality and give small businesses access to more tools.

“AI makes routine cognitive work cheaper,” the report states. “… These incremental improvements add up to enormous benefits when doctors, teachers, contractors, and other professionals spend more of their day on real work and less on paperwork and bureaucracy.”

Moore said AI could also play a major role in addressing affordability, including housing costs.

“The cost of building a home will be cut in half due to AI,” Moore said. “There’s a lot of talk about affordability and how nobody can afford to buy a house. … If you cut the cost of building a house in half, all of a sudden it’s a lot more affordable.”

The report additionally pushes back on fears that AI will wipe out millions of jobs, saying similar concerns have followed previous breakthroughs, including tractors and computers.

“Every major invention of the last 100 years has made the American economy more productive and led to more jobs, not less,” Moore said.

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A warehouse worker stands among stacked boxes. The report says AI could automate routine tasks while creating higher-value roles for workers. (iStock / iStock)

The report points to agriculture as one example. 

In 1900, nearly 40% of the U.S. workforce worked in agriculture, compared with less than 2% today, while America produces far more food. Moore said AI could similarly move workers into new, higher-value roles rather than eliminate work altogether.

Moore said the fear around AI often comes from focusing on the potential risks rather than the benefits.

“I think people are afraid,” he said. “There’s a kind of fear that this is going to be like ‘The Terminator’ in the future, and people are looking at the potential risks, not the incredible advances in human welfare from technology.”

AI adoption is already moving faster than earlier technological revolutions. More than half of U.S. adults have used generative AI within three years of its mass-market release, outpacing the early adoption of personal computers and the internet, as noted in the report.

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A medical professional fills out a patient chart. The report says AI could help doctors spend less time on paperwork and more time with patients. (iStock / iStock)

“This is as big as the invention of the wheel. It’s as big as the invention of electricity. It’s bigger than the internet,” Moore said. “It’s going to make life on Earth better … but we need to make sure America leads.”

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Moore added that the U.S. cannot afford to slow down while China races ahead in AI development and adoption.

“The race is on. Let’s win the race,” Moore said.

On a stage at the Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, the chief executive of Australian airline Qantas declares: “The tyranny of distance has finally been conquered”.

Vanessa Hudson was in the French city last week to announce the world’s first 20-plus hour flight route.

The airline first flew what it named the Kangaroo route between London and Sydney in 1947. At the time, it was an odyssey spanning seven stops and four days.

Those stops have been gradually reduced, with Qantas now stopping only once, in Singapore, on the way through.

But 80 years after that 1940s venture, the first non-stop flight between the two cities is set to take off from October 2027.

Using specially designed ultra-long-haul Airbus planes, Qantas expects to shave about four hours off the current journey time. It is expected to last around 22 hours.

The much anticipated – and delayed – breakthrough comes after a turbulent few years in the airline’s history, and bosses are banking on customers embracing the premium but marathon flight.

“We feel really confident that this is going to be a success,” Hudson tells the BBC.

Some analysts say it is a major milestone in aviation history. But is it really what people want?

Jane added: “We’re not educating people well enough to realise that they could feed their children differently.

“It’s much cheaper to be feeding them a chicken McNugget than it is to be home cooking food and I think that’s a real issue.

“I think we have to realise that it’s important for our society and long-term health benefits to know that spending a little bit more money on your food is a good thing.”

In 2022, the Scottish government passed legislation called the Good Food Nation Scotland Act, external which aims to ensure that people “eat well” and benefit from “reliable and dignified access” to nutritious, affordable, enjoyable, and age-appropriate food.

The SNP manifesto commitment to capping some food prices was dismissed as a “potty gimmick” by some retailers.

But First Minister John Swinney insisted it was a “moral outrage” that some people could not afford to feed themselves properly.

He told BBC Scotland News: “I admire and respect the quality within Scottish agriculture but I’ve also got to be mindful for the genuine hardship that families are facing in delivering an affordable shop.”

Swinney said that was the reason his government was bringing forward legislation to introduce price caps.

Farmers are facing increasing demands to deliver for nature and the environment, as well as consumers.

There is genuine concern from food producers that we’re in a “race to the bottom” which, they fear, could result in an influx of cheap imports pricing them out of the market.

Key Points

Think of a world where each click, each message you send, and each transaction you make creates a value, but not for you, or even for your own country. Rather, this data is mined, stored, and capitalized upon by distant corporations and foreign governments that only leave behind surveillance, dependency, and an empty promise of progress.

This is not a dystopian future. It is already the truth of much of the Global South today, where the imperial desires of the past have morphed into a quieter, yet equally extractive, project: the colonization of the digital sphere.

Asia’s Digital Crossroads: Sovereignty or Surveillance?

The twenty-first century has been accompanied by a new empire established not by ships or armies, but algorithms, servers, and surveillance. So-called “digital colonialism” is the takeover of the digital infrastructure, platforms, and data of developing countries by strong corporations and states, largely based in the Global North, who extract enormous value from the digital lives of others while leaving behind little benefit and even less autonomy. As scholars have pointed out, data has become as valuable a resource as land or oil, and yet its governance, ownership, and profit streams remain concentrated in the hands of a few.

Asia, home to more than half of the world’s population and some of the fastest-growing economies is both the biggest battleground and the greatest prize in this contest for digital supremacy. From India and Indonesia to Malaysia and Pakistan, the region’s populations generate staggering amounts of data every second. Nevertheless, this information and the network that it travels through are controlled elsewhere. India, for example, saw the approval of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act in 2023 as a major step towards fighting data extractivism, an indication that India is becoming more aggressive in the defense of its citizens, as well as data localization. Yet critics have noted that the law also expanded the government’s surveillance powers, doing little to curb the market power of foreign Big Tech.

From Silicon Valley to Shenzhen: The Battle Over Asia’s Digital Future

Meanwhile, Indonesia banned TikTok’s shopping feature in 2023, citing concerns over the platform’s potential damage to local businesses and data sovereignty. Despite this, the country still remains deeply reliant on Chinese and American platforms for its digital economy. Even Malaysia and Pakistan, recipients of Chinese-funded smart city projects, have found themselves dependent on imported surveillance-heavy infrastructure that embeds foreign control into the very fabric of their urban spaces.

This asymmetry manifests itself everywhere. The information produced by Asian  countries is used to make money by Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft in Silicon Valley or Tencent and Huawei in Shenzhen. Governments that store their most sensitive information on Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure effectively outsource a part of their sovereignty, relying on foreign corporations to guard their digital fortresses. Cultural content and algorithms optimized for Western audiences marginalize local languages, identities, and traditions. Public discourse, manipulated by opaque algorithms, threatens to distort democratic debate and undermine accountability. It is not merely a question of who owns the servers or collects the data, but who wields power over the lives of billions.

Digital Dependency: The Global South’s Fight for Online Autonomy

What is at stake, then, is nothing less than the right of nations and peoples to chart their futures in the digital age. The undermining of sovereignty, the extension of economic dependence, and the proliferation of surveillance and manipulation are all features of an unequal digital order. The Global South may have won its independence on paper, but a quiet colonization of cyberspace has begun in earnest.

Yet this story need not end in despair. Across Asia, movements for digital sovereignty are gathering strength. India’s creation of homegrown platforms like Aadhaar, UPI, and the Open Network for Digital Commerce represents an effort to build public digital infrastructure that serves citizens rather than shareholders. Southeast Asian nations are working through ASEAN to develop regional frameworks to protect privacy and regulate data flows more fairly. Activists and scholars are still advocating for the use of open-source solutions, networks owned by the community, and more restrictive legislation to rein in the influence of foreign platforms. These are the first steps in what can still turn into an existential battle over digital independence.

Who Profits from Asia’s Data? The New Colonial Frontier

Digital colonialism is not just an Asian or Southern problem. As more countries adopt exploitative and extractive practices modelled after the powerful, global norms risk shifting further away from democracy and equality, and toward surveillance and domination. The fight for digital sovereignty in Asia is a fight for everyone, everywhere, who believes in the possibility of a free and just internet.

Asia stands at a crossroads. Will it embrace a future dictated by the interests of others, or will it reclaim its place as a leader and defender of its destiny? Just as postcolonial movements once fought to wrest back land and resources, so too must the peoples of the Global South now fight to reclaim their data, their platforms, and their voices. 

The choices made today will determine whether the digital age becomes a new chapter in the story of freedom—or a darker sequel to the colonial subjugation of the past.

Author

Suhana Roy

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Rachel Cruze is warning young adults — especially young men — that chasing “quick” money through sports betting, cryptocurrency and risky real estate moves could put their financial futures at risk.

Cruze, a financial coach, best-selling author and co-host of “The Ramsey Show,” told FOX Business the mistake she sees young adults making “constantly” is buying into fast-track wealth strategies.

“One mistake that we see young adults making constantly, honestly, and it’s driving me crazy, is online gambling or quick wins to wealth building — things like crypto or getting into real estate when they shouldn’t,” Cruze said.

The daughter of personal finance expert Dave Ramsey singled out sports betting as especially risky for young men.

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Rachel Cruze, financial coach, best-selling author and co-host of “The Ramsey Show,” is warning young adults against chasing quick money. (FOX Business)

“It is usually guys in their 20s that are doing this, and so staying away from that is so, so crucial,” she said. “You’re throwing your money away to sports betting. … It really is taking down a generation economically.”

Roughly 27% of Americans — and 52% of men ages 18–49 — say they have an active account with an online sportsbook such as Caesars, DraftKings, BetMGM or FanDuel, according to a survey from the Siena Research Institute and St. Bonaventure University’s Jandoli School of Communication.

Cruze said young adults are bombarded on social media with promises of easy money where influencers frequently pitch crypto, real estate and other fast-track wealth strategies.

“You can hear and see on TikTok things about real estate or cryptocurrency,” Cruze said. “If anything seems too good to be true, it probably is.”

Instead, Cruze said building wealth is usually less flashy but more reliable.

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Cruze singled out sports betting as especially risky for young men, warning they are “throwing” money away. (iStock / iStock)

“The way of building wealth and becoming financially stable is over a long period of time and doing really boring things that are not exciting and fun, like living on less than you make, getting out of debt and investing,” she said.

Cruze said young adults often want instant results, but there is no shortcut to long-term financial stability.

“That’s going to be really key for young adults, because they want the quick wins, they want the instant gratification, but that doesn’t happen when it comes to money long term,” she said. “You have to go slow and steady.”

She also warned that social media is warping expectations around careers, homeownership and spending.

Cruze said younger generations constantly see other people’s vacations, promotions, homes and major life milestones, which can create pressure to spend beyond their means.

“One thing that is facing this generation, unlike really any other generation, is the social media piece, that you have the ability to see what other people are doing — from job promotions to eating out to vacations,” she said.

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Cruze said social media can warp young adults’ expectations around spending, careers, homeownership and success. (iStock / iStock)

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Her bottom line for young adults is to stop comparing, stop chasing and focus on their own numbers.

“You really have to put the blinders on and focus on your life, your career, your money situation,” Cruze said. “You can celebrate other people if they’re winning and that’s what they’re promoting. That’s fine. But focusing on your life and being realistic about your numbers is very, very important.”

Cruze’s warning aligns with Ramsey Solutions’ broader financial guidance, which centers on its “7 Baby Steps” plan to help people pay off debt, save money and build wealth over time.