{"id":31801,"date":"2026-02-02T08:25:29","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T07:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/?p=31801"},"modified":"2026-02-03T11:51:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T10:51:20","slug":"how-circular-deals-are-driving-the-ai-boom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/02\/how-circular-deals-are-driving-the-ai-boom\/","title":{"rendered":"How Circular Deals Are Driving the AI Boom"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong><em>B2 &#8211; Upper Intermediate<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Artificial intelligence is attracting massive investment from some of the world\u2019s biggest companies. Billions of dollars are being poured into data centers, energy infrastructure, and advanced chips, with many investors treating AI as a growth engine that cannot fail. At the same time, questions are growing about profitability, rising costs, and whether this surge could turn into another tech bubble similar to the dot-com crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Watch the full video to explore how money is moving through the AI industry, why some experts are worried, and what\u2019s at stake if expectations don\u2019t match reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"How Circular Deals Are Driving the AI Boom\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9yy_Wz0BbyU?wmode=transparent&amp;rel=0&amp;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Vocabulary Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What does <strong>\u201ccircular deal\u201d<\/strong> mean in the sentence, \u201c<em>A precarious investment strategy is emerging multi-billion dollar <strong>circular deals<\/strong>.<\/em>\u201d? Use it in a sentence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What does <strong>\u201cto bank on something\u201d<\/strong> mean in the sentence, \u201c<em>Investors are really <strong>banking on<\/strong> <strong>incredible growth<\/strong><\/em>\u201d? Use it in a sentence.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What does <strong>\u201ccanary in the coal mine\u201d<\/strong> mean in the sentence, \u201c<em>And these AI data center companies, they are the kind of <strong>canary in the coal mine<\/strong><\/em>\u201d? Use it in a sentence.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Discussion Questions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Why do you think so many investors are willing to spend billions on AI even though many projects are not yet profitable?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>How is the current AI boom similar to the dot-com bubble, according to the video?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What risks do ordinary people face if an AI bubble were to burst?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Do you think large technology companies are becoming \u201ctoo big to fail\u201d? Why or why not?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In your opinion, can AI still succeed as a technology even if some companies fail along the way?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>B2 &#8211; Upper Intermediate Artificial intelligence is attracting massive investment from some of the world\u2019s biggest companies. Billions of dollars are being poured into data centers, energy infrastructure, and advanced chips, with many investors treating AI as a growth engine that cannot fail. At the same time, questions are growing about profitability, rising costs, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[291,162,8710,301,292,290,14],"class_list":["post-31801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homework","tag-b2-upper-intermediate","tag-business","tag-business-and-business-english","tag-business-english","tag-first-certificate-fce","tag-listening","tag-video"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v16.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Circular Deals Are Driving the AI Boom | phone english blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/02\/how-circular-deals-are-driving-the-ai-boom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Circular Deals Are Driving the AI Boom | phone english blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"B2 &#8211; Upper Intermediate Artificial intelligence is attracting massive investment from some of the world\u2019s biggest companies. Billions of dollars are being poured into data centers, energy infrastructure, and advanced chips, with many investors treating AI as a growth engine that cannot fail. At the same time, questions are growing about profitability, rising costs, and [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/02\/how-circular-deals-are-driving-the-ai-boom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"phone english blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/phoneenglish.es\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-02T07:25:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-03T10:51:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@phoneenglishes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@phoneenglishes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"PHONE ENGLISH\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/phoneenglish.es\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/phoneenglish\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/phoneenglishes\"],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/phone-english1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/phone-english1.png\",\"width\":200,\"height\":124,\"caption\":\"PHONE ENGLISH\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"phone english blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/02\/how-circular-deals-are-driving-the-ai-boom\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/02\/how-circular-deals-are-driving-the-ai-boom\/\",\"name\":\"How Circular Deals Are Driving the AI Boom | phone english blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-02T07:25:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-03T10:51:20+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/02\/how-circular-deals-are-driving-the-ai-boom\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/02\/how-circular-deals-are-driving-the-ai-boom\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/02\/how-circular-deals-are-driving-the-ai-boom\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"item\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Blog\"}},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"item\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/02\/how-circular-deals-are-driving-the-ai-boom\/#webpage\"}}]},{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/02\/how-circular-deals-are-driving-the-ai-boom\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/02\/how-circular-deals-are-driving-the-ai-boom\/#webpage\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ac329dac94c9e634dfa799e15e4c55da\"},\"headline\":\"How Circular Deals Are Driving the AI Boom\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-02T07:25:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-03T10:51:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/2026\/02\/how-circular-deals-are-driving-the-ai-boom\/#webpage\"},\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phoneenglish.es\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"B2 - 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