Jeff Bezos joined Sam Altman in admitting the existence of an AI bubble—however Amazon’s founder sees upside.
Not too long ago, many AI-related firms have seen voracious optimism and spikes in valuations. In August, the OpenAI CEO advised reporters the AI market was in a bubble. When bubbles occur, “smart people get overexcited about a kernel of truth,” Altman warned, drawing parallels with the dot-com growth. Nonetheless, he mentioned his private perception is “on the whole, this would be a huge net win for the economy.”
Now Bezos too is saying an AI bubble exists, and has an much more constructive outlook.
The similarity between this bubble and the dot-com bubble within the late Nineties worries buyers and comes with excessive monetary dangers. However Bezos mentioned the distinction in nature of the present AI bubble ought to present buyers some solace.
“This is a kind of industrial bubble, as opposed to financial bubbles,” he mentioned at Italian Tech Week on Friday.
In the end, industrial bubbles could be constructive, Bezos added, mentioning that the biotech and pharmaceutical bubble within the Nineties led to the event of life-saving medicine—although within the course of, many public firms that IPO’d throughout the growth went bankrupt or have been acquired at a fraction of their beginning worth by the top. The cumulative internet losses to public biotech firms’ backside traces piled as much as greater than $40 billion, The Wall Road Journal reported in 2004.
However, Bezos mentioned industrial bubbles are “not nearly as bad” as different bubbles, like
“It can even be good, because when the dust settles and you see who are the winners, societies benefit from those investors,” Bezos mentioned. “That is what is going to happen here too. This is real, the benefits to society from AI are going to be gigantic.”
And through bubbles, every little thing will get funded, he famous. When these intervals of pleasure come alongside, buyers have a tough time distinguishing the nice concepts from the unhealthy, he mentioned, including that is “probably happening today” with AI investments.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg not too long ago made comparable feedback, saying an AI bubble is feasible however that he would relatively see his firm “misspend a couple hundred billion dollars” than be late to superintelligence.
However whether or not AI is in a bubble or not is separate from its transformative potential, Bezos identified: “That doesn’t mean anything that is happening isn’t real. AI is real, and it is going to change every industry.”
Fortune International Discussion board returns Oct. 26–27, 2025 in Riyadh. CEOs and international leaders will collect for a dynamic, invitation-only occasion shaping the way forward for enterprise. Apply for an invite.
