Cathie Wood and Bill Ackman have offered opposing views on whether artificial intelligence investment will reinforce inflation or ultimately ease price pressures. The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by 25 basis points on September 16, 2026, to a target range of 3.75%–4.00%, while maintaining that inflation remained elevated and reaffirming its 2% goal. Ackman questioned the move in a September 25 post on X, arguing that demand for computing capacity and energy could remain strong because companies pursuing major AI advances may accept higher borrowing costs in expectation of unusually large returns. Wood responded on September 29 and in ARK's October edition of In The Know, arguing that stronger real growth, productivity gains and falling technology costs can coexist with higher rates and limit consumer-price pressure. She cited a 99.99% annual decline in AI inference costs at constant performance and linked cheaper AI with OpenAI's revenue run rate increasing from $20 billion to $70 billion. Wood described the potential outcome as benign deflation, in which productivity raises output while lowering production costs. The debate remains complicated by the expense of electricity, land, data centers and construction, which could rise as cheaper inference expands AI usage. Wood also cited the 10-year Treasury yield as near its historical median based on records dating to 1790, and pointed to U.S. money-supply growth near 5.7% without renewed inflation. ARK's briefing said 90% of global data-center financing was in the United States.