Going to be hard for companies to pay for inference if consumers don't have any money to buy their products.

Like all other problems of the future, this too can simply be solved by throwing more AI at it. The next great work of the frontier labs must not merely be to replace human labor, but also human consumption. With the ouroboros so complete, all such petty human economic concerns will cease to have relevance, as we all cleanly divide out of the equation at last.

I think that's more or less where we'll end up, sadly.

That didn't stop any of the previous financial bubbles, financial crises, and progress-induced suffering.

If you make it through the devastation, you'll be one of the richest and most important people in the world. If not, throw a random frontman in front of the wolves and disappear into the background.