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When Donald Trump returned to the White House in 2025, many in the tech world hoped his promises to champion artificial intelligence and cut regulation would outweigh the risks of his famously volatile trade policies. But less than 100 days into his new term, its clear that Trumps aggressive tariffsand the global response to themcould pose a major threat to the AI boom that helped drive the last two years of tech innovation. AI companies are already feeling pressure on multiple fronts. They may face difficulties accessing chips and higher data center costs, and they could be hit even harder if enterprisesthe main revenue source for many budding AI firmsbecome less willing to experiment with new AI solutions during a time of economic uncertainty. World markets tumbled on April 2 when the White House announced a 10% tariff on imports from 90 countries, plus additional reciprocal tariffs on 57 of them. A week later, the president paused the 10% tariffs for 90 days but kept a 145% tariff on Chinese goods in place. Trump has said the China tariff would likely decrease after trade talks, but has presented little evidence that negotiations are happening at all. The tech industry, particularly hardware companies, will be significantly affected, as theyll bear the cost of tariffs on imported components from across Asia, including China. While the Trump administration reportedly exempted AI chips from tariffs, GPUs and other processors could still become more scarce and expensive. Nvidia GPUs, which power the largest AI models, are fabricated in Taiwan but incorporate components from tariffed countries such as South Korea. Additionally, many critical raw materialsrare earth metals, silicon wafers, and packaging materials originating from Taiwan and Chinacould be subject to tariffs as high as 30% when entering the U.S. “While tariffs arent causing VCs to pull back from AI investments overall, they are absolutely reshaping how investors evaluate risk, says Samir Kumar, cofounder of the venture capital firm Touring Capital. Investors are asking much tougher questions about supply chainsnot just where companies are sourcing today, but their ability to second- and third-source critical components, and where their manufacturing is based. Thats the supply side. But how will an unstable trade environment affect demand? Numerous sources say C-suite leaders were eager to start AI experiments during the early AI boom of 2023 and 2024. But after relatively few of those experiments made it into production and proved their value to the business, executives have grown far more cautious about signing new contracts with AI companies in 2025especially with startups, says William Falcon, CEO of Lightning AI, whose cloud-based environment enables quick training and launch of AI applications. And that was before tariffs entered the picture. So if you’re still in an experimental phase and you’ve got tariffs now, that decision kind of narrows and you’ve got to allocate those funds to something else, Falcon tells Fast Company. If you’ve gotten business value from AI . . . you’re more willing to invest into it, you’re more willing to carve out a bit more [budget]. On the other hand, its easy to forget amid the turmoil that the economy remains strong (for now), and enthusiasm around AI is still high. Kumar points out that AI has the potential to act as a major efficiency and productivity multiplier, which could sustainor even boostenterprise adoption. Thanks to these factors, many in the venture capital community had expected tech company exits to rebound in 2025, driven by AI startups getting acquired or going public. But the trade war has put those hopes on hold. No one really knows how disruptive the tariffs will be. Investors hope itll be a blip that vanishes as quickly as it arrived, allowing the AI boom to continue as scheduled. But even if the tariffs were lifted tomorrow, their effects could linger; as with the COVID-era disruptions, supply chains would likely need time to recover. On the demand side, corporationsthe buyers of AI software and servicesmay become more conservative with their tech spending. Corporate IT budgets will increasingly reflect broader economic sentiment. Right now, things are looking gloomier: Reuters surveyed 167 economists, and 60% said the likelihood of a global recession this year was high or very high. Before his election, Trump positioned himself as a champion of the AI industry, promising to shield it from unnecessary regulation. But his reckless trade policies are poised to harm the AI space more than any regulation could. Ironically, Trumps tariffs might actually create more demand for AI and robotics in the long term. Trump believes his tariffs will make it so expensive to manufacture or assemble products overseas that companies will bring factories back to the U.S. But those reshored factories may not offer the kinds of jobs Trump promised his base. We should also expect tariffs to accelerate AI and robotics adoption, as companies look for ways to manage costs when reshoring or expanding into higher labor cost markets, Kumar says.
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As global temperatures rise and theres a seemingly endless series of climate disasters, its natural to look to technology as a solution. From carbon capture (where emissions arent released into the atmosphere but buried in the ground) to geo-engineering (where particles are sprayed into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight and lower temperatures), green innovations are frequently touted as the way to resolve our continued reliance on fossil fuels. But in our eagerness for silver bullets, we may be susceptible to optimism bias, focusing too much on potential benefits while ignoring many of the negative effects or drawbacks. A 2022 essay in Nature argues that many of these technologies are often overhyped and dont include the significant associated challenges, costs, and unintended consequences. For instance, discussions of EVs and their required batteries usually dont address the harmful extraction of necessary minerals like silicon, lithium, and cobalt. A less flashy type of climate innovation that can have real impact now doesnt hype technical fixes and instead focuses on rethinking a companys operations, including its use of materials and redesign of supply chains. Sustainability must start with product design Studies have shown that 70%80% of a products environmental impact is determined during the design phase, something Ive also heard from many of the companies Ive researched over the last two decades. For instance, Riccardo Bellini, former CEO of luxury fashion house Chloé, told me that an analysis of the companys full environmental footprint in 2020 revealed that 80% of the companys sustainability challenges could be solved at the design tablespecifically that 58% of Chloés emissions stemmed from raw materials like cotton, leather, and virgin cashmere. Understanding this led the company to prioritize lower-impact materials like linen and hemp in new collections, and increase its use of recycled materials, particularly cashmere. And for leather products, Chloé began sourcing through a supplier that had third party certifications ensuring that their tanning and manufacturing processes followed strict environmental standards. But Chloé has remained cautious about vegan leathers, because while its an area of tech-focused innovation, many leather substitutes are derived from fossil fuel-intensive sources. Bellini told me the company committed that by 2025, 90% of its fabrics would be lower impact, a goal its on track to meet, as 85% of its products were made with these materials in 2024. Many of the companies I have researched and written about, from injection molding company Cascade Engineering to waste-management platform Rubicon, have similarly shown that initiatives focused on rethinking inputs and supply chains result not only in positive environmental effects but also significant monetary savings. Going beyond do less harm Seventh Generations former CEO Joey Bergstein also emphasized to me that another reason why sustainability must start with product redesign is that it can allow companies to avoid some emissions in the first place. This approach contrasts with corporate environmental work that begins after the product is produced, so at most can only focus on doing less harm. Thus, at Seventh Generation, the companys research and development team aims to rethink products from the ground up, for example exploring new formats or delivery methods that can avoid the use of plastic, a material thats made from fossil fuels and is hard to recycle. A key initiative at the company is reducing water usage in its products, which has important carbon emissions benefits as it cuts shipping weight and the need for plastic packaging. For instance, Bergstein told me Seventh Generation has active research efforts to create effective waterless productssuch as in powder or tablet forms that are packaged in easily recycled materials like cardboard or steelfor laundry, dish cleaning, counter cleaning, and handwashing. In 2020, one example of this work moved from the lab to the market when the company introduced a line of cleaning products packaged in steel canisters that avoid using plastic altogether. Seventh Generation is not alone in this approach of prioritizing avoidance of plastic in product development. Leaders at Grove Collaborative told me how they reformulated shampoo products to be a bar (so could be packaged in cardboard) as opposed to a liqud, and footwear and apparel company Allbirds created a new material for shoe soles made from natural sources. Toward a more holistic view of sustainability What these examples show is that while it is easy to fall under the spell of sexy green innovations, our sustainability challenges in fact require hard work beyond superficial tweaks or isolated innovations. Instead of merely striving to do less harm, to the environment, which results in incremental changes, companies must take holistic views of their productsstarting with design. They must recognize that true impact lies not just in isolated efficiencies or technological innovations but in reimagining supply chains, production, and business models to contribute positively to the planet and society.
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You shouldn’t have to cross your fingers and hope for a strong stock market to coincide with your short-term goals. And right now, you probably wouldn’t want to.Because you’re working within a short time framethink two to six yearsinvesting for shorter-term goals like buying a house or paying for a wedding should look different from the portfolio you build for retirement. But don’t stop putting away money for your long-term goals while you’re working toward your short-term ones.So, how do you balance saving for both? How to think about funding short-term and long-term goals Don’t forgo saving for the long term to meet your short-term goals. Thanks to the power of compounding over time, saving early can have a large impact on your long-term outcomes. The longer the time frame, the greater the potential impact. You should put retirement front and center, especially as you approach your midcareer.Earlier in your career, you might shift your savings somewhat to shorter-term goals, but retirement should still be part of the equation. At least, take advantage of any retirement match that your employer might offer. To some extent, what you’re saving for can tip the balance as well. You might direct more of your savings away from retirement if you’re saving for a house than if you’re saving for a vacation. Account types that work for short-term investing It’s helpful to separate your short-term portfolio from your retirement portfolio, but there are some accounts that you can use to multitask. Depending on your situation, you might use a tax-deferred account, like a Roth IRA, or a taxable brokerage account. Traditional IRAs are less appealing for short-term investing because there are tax penalties when you withdraw from the account before age 59 and a half.Unlike traditional IRAs, Roth IRA contributions can be withdrawn at any time and for any reason without taxes or penalties. That makes a Roth IRA a perfect “multitasking” account for younger investors who need to build up both an emergency fund and retirement assets. Roth IRAs also allow you to withdraw up to $10,000 of earnings (in addition to any contributions) to help pay for a down payment on a first home if the account has been open for at least five years. Finding the right investments to meet near-term goals Unlike a long-term portfolio, which has a timeline of 10-plus years, the main goal of a short-term portfolio should be to outpace inflation while protecting what you’ve saved. Maximizing portfolio growth is less of a priority because the added risk likely isn’t worth the reward. Being able to buy a home in three years feels very different from affording it in seven because your investments lost value in the interim.Common mistakes that investors make are either in taking on too much risk or not enough. Some investors might assume that because stocks have beaten other asset classes over long time periods, they’re also a good choice for the short termbut they aren’t.Other investors might stick with guaranteed products, like CDs or money market accounts, because they’re concerned about protecting their savings. This approach leaves them at a disadvantage because inflation will eat into the value of those savings. Holding cash-type investments is a good idea if your timeline is super shortless than two years. Short-term investment portfolio examples Explore model portfolios that show what reasonable short-term portfolios look like. The portfolios consist of cash and shorter-term bonds. You might include a dash of stocks for growth potential, but the bulk of your money for short-term goals should be in safer, lower-returning assets. This article was provided to The Associated Press by Morningstar. For more personal finance content, go to https://www.morningstar.com/personal-financeMargaret Giles is a senior editor of content development at Morningstar. Margaret Giles, Morningstar
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