AI Stock Gains Boost California Revenue by $11 Billion (1)

A surge in artificial intelligence stock prices has boosted California’s tax collections by about $11 billion, yet the state’s deficit is still on track to swell to about $18 billion next fiscal year, officials said.

The state’s Legislative Analyst’s Office said Wednesday that despite sluggish job growth and flat consumer spending, the state’s general-fund revenue has climbed well above expectations as a run-up in AI-related stocks delivered outsized capital gains to California’s wealthiest. That additional revenue, however, is almost entirely offset by higher constitutional spending requirements for public schools and reserves deposits, the LAO said in a report.

“Quite ...