CNBC Television Sep 22, 2026 · recorded Sep 21, 2026
With Ankur Crawford, Executive Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Alger
Ankur Crawford said she thinks public anxiety about AI is reaching a peak, even as the Nasdaq hit a record high and the host pointed to growing anger at data centers in towns across the US.
The host did not agree that the anxiety was peaking. Crawford answered with Louisiana, where she said teachers near a Meta data center are getting a $50,000 bonus.
"We really have to think about containing the bad AI."
Ankur Crawford has worked at Alger since 2004 and has managed its Capital Appreciation, Focus Equity and Spectra strategies since 2015, after starting her career as an engineer at Intel. She spoke to CNBC for its talk of the tape on the Nasdaq's record high.
The full segment is covered here so you can skip it.
Here are the 4 takeaways that matter.
Key Takeaways
A shortage of AI computing gives pricing power to the entire supply chain
Demand for AI agents means "we don't have enough tokens"
She thinks public anxiety about AI is peaking, and puts the bad-AI case at "a 5% scenario"
Teachers near Meta's Louisiana data center are getting a $50,000 bonus, which she offered against the local backlash
The bigger risk is that US policy sends data centers abroad, which she said would hurt the US economy
Muse shows how Meta will earn money from its capital spending, so she called the stock's rise warranted
1. The AI Supply Chain
The host opened on the Nasdaq's record high and on the Magnificent Seven, the largest US technology stocks, setting a second straight high. The host asked what it means.
Compressed valuations are recovering
Crawford recalled that on her last appearance she had talked about Nvidia's valuation multiple being too low to last. She said "a lot of the multiples were getting compressed," and that part of the recent rise is a return to a more normal multiple, even if it is not yet a fair one.
Demand has run ahead of supply
Over the last few months, she said, investors came to believe in AI agents, which are programs that carry out tasks on their own. Agents need more computing, which is measured in tokens.
"We started to believe in agents, we need more demand, we need more tokens, we don't have enough tokens" — Ankur Crawford
Pricing power up and down the chain
As a result, she said, the whole AI supply chain is under strain, and every company in it has more pricing power.
"You're seeing the entire supply chain get incredibly stretched" — Ankur Crawford
She said that is becoming more obvious now.
