In this episode of Being Exponential, Luke Lango breaks down the implications of the newly released Citrini Research paper, “The 2028 Intelligence Crisis,” and what it could mean for markets, AI infrastructure, and the next wave of exponential investing.

The report argues that we may be approaching a global intelligence bottleneck — a moment when compute, energy, data, and geopolitical competition collide in ways that reshape economic power. Luke explains what the “2028 Intelligence Crisis” thesis really means, whether it’s credible, and how markets are beginning to price it in.

From there, we dive into the Physical AI trade — the shift from digital AI (chatbots, copilots, software automation) to embodied AI in robots, autonomous vehicles, drones, edge devices, and industrial systems. If intelligence becomes scarce and strategic, distribution and deployment become critical. That’s where Physical AI comes in.

We also unpack what Luke calls the HALO Trade — the higher-order beneficiaries of AI buildout and deployment. These are the companies positioned not just in chips and data centers, but in the energy, materials, networking, and hardware layers required to support exponential intelligence growth.

If AI isn’t a bubble — but a structural reordering of the global economy — then the implications for capital allocation, sector leadership, and market structure are enormous.

This episode connects geopolitics, AI infrastructure, compute bottlenecks, and next-gen hardware into a unified investing framework.

🎧 Subscribe to Being Exponential with Luke Lango for weekly insights on AI investing, macro trends, and exponential change.