Tech stocks are tumbling Monday morning, with the Nasdaq down 1.1%. Netflix (NFLX +0.38%) numbers among the casualties, down 3.8% as of 11:35 a.m. ET.
And it's all because of a new artificial intelligence doom-and-gloom report, this time from a little-known shop called Citrini Research.
Image source: Netflix.
How Citrini Research tanked the tech market
If you've never heard of Citrini Research, don't feel bad -- neither had I. According to the company's website, though, Citrini provides "deep insights into thematic equity investing and global macro trading ... for institutional investors."
Citrini's latest research delves into the future of AI agents -- "software systems that use AI to pursue goals and complete tasks on behalf of users," as Google puts it -- without human involvement. 33% of Americans already use AI agents. Over the next couple of years, Citrini sees AI agents becoming ubiquitous, helping consumers (for example) buy plane tickets to wherever they want to go, shop online for goods and services, and hop merrily from subscription service to subscription service without friction, automatically subscribing and unsubscribing as needed to get consumers the best price.
Problem is, companies that sell plane tickets, goods and services, and subscriptions like friction. Friction keeps a service "sticky," so that consumers will come back to it again and again, and keep giving the companies their money. As AI agents eliminate friction, Citrini predicts a doomsday scenario for the economy:
10% unemployment.
Half of all white-collar workers out of work.
The S&P 500 down 38%.
NASDAQ: NFLX
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What does this mean for Netflix stock?
At Netflix, AI agents could increase customer churn as they automatically subscribe and unsubscribe, helping customers find the movies they want to watch for less than $25 a month. Citrini's prediction might be right or it might be wrong.
It's frightening Netflix investors either way.
