Ireland’s economic outlook ahead of Budget 2027 and agentic AI going rogue

Cliff Taylor is joined by economist Rossa White and Ciara O’Brien of the Irish Times

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Open AI CEO Sam Altman has urged caution in the development of AI over safety worries. Photograph: Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
Open AI CEO Sam Altman has urged caution in the development of AI over safety worries. Photograph: Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

On this episode of Inside Business, we start with Ireland’s economic outlook a week out from the Budget 2027 announcement.

After years of consistent steady growth and running a surplus, what potential challenges await next year?

Are we putting enough into the State’s rainy-day funds?

And why do developments with the US Federal Reserve have a clear impact on our economy?

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To discuss all this, host Cliff Taylor was joined in studio by Rossa White, Chief Economist at EY Ireland.

In the second half of this episode, we look at agentic AI and why it has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons lately.

Data breaches and deceptive behaviour have led to growing calls from AI leaders, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, for a more cautious approach to AI development and stronger safeguards.

But why don’t these companies know what their software is up to?

And is proper regulation even a possibility at this point?

Irish Times business and technology journalist Ciara O’Brien has been following these developments closely and she explained why agentic AI is giving big tech cause for concern.

Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.

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