Watch CNBC’s full interview with U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton
Watch on YouTube ↗  |  February 18, 2026 at 13:28 UTC  |  16:30  |  CNBC
Speakers
Jay Clayton — U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York / Former SEC Chair

Summary

  • AI Agent Risks: Autonomous bots ("Open Claw") that act on user behalf create massive liability voids regarding data theft and misuse, necessitating new legal guardrails.
  • Platform Regulation: Big Tech platforms are no longer neutral "town squares" but vertically integrated monopolies (owning the "dealership" and the "brokerage") that direct consumer traffic, signaling a need for stricter regulation.
  • Media Fragmentation: Legacy media (CBS, etc.) has lost the "town square" function due to extreme political skew, driving the market toward decentralized/alternative media sources.
  • Market Structure: There is a high probability of AI evolving into a "Winner Take All" or "Two Winners Take All" market, centralizing power and opinion-shaping capabilities.
Trade Ideas
Ticker Direction Speaker Thesis Time
LONG Jay Clayton
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York / Former SEC Chair
"What happens when a bot steals and misuses personal information?... You give it to a bot and the bot sells it to somebody else. The bot uses it against you." Clayton highlights a specific emerging risk: AI Agents (like "Open Claw") acting autonomously with user credentials. This expands the cyber attack surface from simple phishing to automated identity theft and unauthorized transactions. This creates a structural tailwind for Identity Access Management (OKTA) and Endpoint Security (CRWD/PANW) to secure the "human-to-bot" handoff. Long Cybersecurity/Identity infrastructure as the necessary guardrail for Agentic AI. Regulatory delays in defining liability could slow enterprise adoption of AI agents, delaying the security spend cycle.
WATCH Jay Clayton
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York / Former SEC Chair
"The platforms are not the town square anymore. The platforms they own the car dealership, they own the brokerage... It's time to recognize the functions that they play and regulate them accordingly." Clayton argues that Big Tech has moved beyond "platform" status to vertical integration, directing user traffic to their own services. His call to "regulate them accordingly" suggests a shift away from Section 230 protections toward antitrust or utility-style regulation, which would compress margins and force divestitures. Watch for regulatory headwinds; the "town square" defense is eroding among top legal minds. These companies have massive cash piles and lobbying power to delay enforcement; the "Winner Take All" AI dynamic (also mentioned by Clayton) might overpower regulatory drag. 4:38
AVOID Jay Clayton
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York / Former SEC Chair
"Whatever late night shows... 60 Minutes CBS at this point is compromised... If you do look at the media... it is way skewed to one side." Clayton explicitly names CBS (owned by Paramount) as "compromised" and biased. He suggests the "free market" is moving away from these legacy entities because they no longer represent the public's diverse views. This implies continued viewership churn and loss of relevance for legacy broadcasters. Avoid legacy media conglomerates reliant on traditional broadcast prestige, which is eroding. M&A activity (buyouts) could temporarily spike the stock price regardless of fundamental viewership trends.
LONG Jay Clayton
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York / Former SEC Chair
"Is this a winner take all market? Or maybe a two winners take all? And do we end up with AI driving... thought and opinion to one pole?" Despite his regulatory warnings, Clayton acknowledges the economic reality of AI: it is a natural monopoly. If the market is "Winner Take All," the Hyperscalers with the most data and compute (Microsoft/Google) will capture the vast majority of value, rendering smaller competitors irrelevant. Long the inevitable winners of the AI consolidation phase. Government intervention (breakups) to prevent the exact "Winner Take All" scenario he describes.