Tech is building in the ruins again

Every 15 years or so, it seems, the US economy rolls into a ditch — and the tech industry pulls something remarkable out of its labs. Here we are again! Silicon Valley's favorite bank has failed, while its top firms continue to lay off hordes of workers — but, at the same time, industry leaders foresee vast new growth spurred by artificial intelligence (AI). The first great platform leap of modern times — from mainframes and minicomputers to the personal computers we still use now — occurred as Fed Chairman Paul Volcker induced the sickeningly painful recession of 1981-82. Tech's next leap, onto the global internet in the early '90s, happened as the US struggled to restart its business engines after another recession. Tech's optimists are casting ChatGPT, and the new generation of AI it symbolizes, as the industry's latest platform shift. Tech's previous leaps have involved breakthroughs that promised to empower individuals, streamline businesses and summon entire new waves of startups into being.