Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, expressed his views on Friday regarding what he believes to be a bubble in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector, suggesting that it could ultimately be beneficial for society.
During his talk at Tech Week in Italy, he made a distinction between what he referred to as an “industrial bubble” and other sectors within the stock market.
“It’s a kind of industrial bubble, in contrast to the financial bubble,” Bezos stated in a discussion with Ferrari Chairman John Elcan in Turin.
“The industrial bubbles aren’t necessarily harmful,” he noted. “Once everything settles, and we can see who emerges as the leader, society could greatly benefit from these innovations, which is a positive outcome.”
He recalled the biotech bubble of the 1990s, where “everything lost money” after the bubble burst, but emphasized that society eventually gained access to some life-saving medications.
“It’s similar here,” Bezos remarked. “What we are witnessing is real. The advantages of AI for society could be tremendous.”
A stock market bubble occurs when stock prices surge dramatically, detached from their fundamental values. While investments in AI have not yet yielded actual returns, there are worries that the current boom may be inflating a bubble as tech firms experience significant growth.
“For instance, when excitement peaks, as it is now with AI, every experiment and every company gets funding,” Bezos highlighted.
“Investors often find it challenging to differentiate between solid and flawed ideas amid this excitement, which seems to be the case today,” he added.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, has also indicated that the AI market might be entering a bubble, likening it to the Dot-Com bubble that collapsed in 2000.
“When bubbles occur, intelligent individuals can become overly enthusiastic about core truths,” Altman reportedly commented in August. “In the case of tech bubbles, there was always a foundational truth. The internet was truly significant. It’s just that people became overly excited.”
“Are we currently in a phase where investors are excessively thrilled about AI? I believe so,” he said at the time. “Is AI going to be among the most significant developments for quite some time? I also think yes.”
