Zhou Xiaochuan: Prepare for Financial Risks From Failed AI Investments

Zhou Xiaochuan's warning carries weight less because of his current role than his former one: markets tend to treat ex-central-bank commentary as a signal of where official risk thinking is heading. The framing matters because it links AI capex to financial stability rather than productivity, effectively recasting the boom as a balance-sheet question. The call for contingency plans and institutional rescue tools implies concern about concentration and leverage that public data may not yet capture. Whether such preparation becomes concrete policy, or remains advisory, is the open question worth tracking.