Openai CEO Sam Altman openly acknowledges what many in the financial and technical sectors have been discussing. Artificial intelligence is in the bubble. Speaking about The Verge, Altman responded to a question about whether investors are currently “overexcited about AI,” saying, “My opinion is yes.”
He is similar between today's AI investment surge and the dot-com bubble in the 1990s, when internet startup valuations surged before it collapsed in 2000. “Like a tech bubble, when you look at most bubbles in history, there was a real thing. Technology was really important. The internet was really a big deal. People were just too excited.”
Altman has expressed concern over the Sky High rating of AI startups, which sometimes have “three and ideas.” He called such funds “insanity” and “not a reasonable action,” and warned that “someone is going to get burned there.” In recent months, AI companies like Safe Superintelligence, led by Openai co-founder Ilya Sutskever, and thinking machines founded by former Operannie CTO Mira Murati have raised billions of dollars.
“Someone will lose an incredible amount of money. We're going to make who is who, and a lot of people will make an incredible amount of money,” Altman said. Still, he believes the net outcome is positive. “My personal belief is that I may turn out to be wrong, but overall, this is a huge net victory for the economy.”
Altman also hinted at Openai's massive future investment, saying, “We should expect Openai to spend trillions of dollars on data center construction in the not too distant future. We should expect many economists to squeeze their hands.”
Despite the warning signs, Altman's remarks suggest confidence that Openai will remain the dominant player, even if the AI bubble finally bursts.
