OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has conceded that the current investment euphoria surrounding AI likely constitutes a bubble.
Speaking in a recent interview, Altman compared the current excitement around AI to the dotcom bubble of the 1990s, when internet startup valuations boomed before crashing in 2000: “Tech was really important. The internet was a really big deal. People got overexcited.”
Nevertheless, Altman believes that the macroeconomic benefits of AI will outweigh the negative effects of any forthcoming bubble burst: “My personal belief, although I may turn out to be wrong, is that, on the whole, this would be a huge net win for the economy.”
OpenAI has plans to construct additional US data centres “of a magnitude that no one else has contemplated,” added Altman.