CNBC reports, artificial intelligence has entered a stage where funding and valuations appear detached from traditional business fundamentals, according to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
Speaking at Italian Tech Week in Turin, Bezos described the current surge of capital into AI as an “industrial bubble.”
Unlike purely financial bubbles, he noted, these periods often leave behind innovations that can reshape industries long after speculative excesses fade.
Drawing on examples from biotech and pharmaceuticals in the 1990s, Bezos said that even when many firms collapse, the breakthroughs that remain can be transformative for society.
Bezos links AI frenzy to investor behaviour
Bezos highlighted the characteristics of bubbles, pointing to a disconnect between stock prices and the fundamentals of companies.
He said that heightened excitement fuels investment across the board, allowing both promising and weak ideas to attract funding.
This, he suggested, is visible in today’s AI sector, where even very small companies are securing billions of dollars in backing. He described this pattern as “very unusual behaviour” but noted it fits within the wider bubble framework seen in past decades.
He stressed that despite speculative elements, the underlying technology is real and will change every industry.
The Amazon founder explained that industrial bubbles differ from financial ones because they often result in progress, even if numerous ventures fail along the way.
He argued that the eventual winners bring innovations that benefit society on a large scale.
Other business leaders raise AI bubble concerns
Bezos’ comments came at the same event where Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon expressed caution about the AI-driven surge in stock markets.
Solomon said investor optimism often highlights potential gains while downplaying risks, leading to eventual resets or corrections.
He suggested that the length of the current market run would determine the scale of any future drawdown.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has also previously warned that AI is in a bubble. In August, he reportedly described the industry’s rapid growth as unsustainable in its current form.
Karim Moussalem, chief investment officer of equities at Selwood Asset Management, added to concerns last week by saying that the AI trade is beginning to look like one of the “great speculative manias” in market history.
Historical parallels and future impact
Bezos drew parallels between today’s AI wave and earlier technology surges.
He pointed to the dotcom era of the late 1990s and early 2000s, where valuations soared before collapsing, as well as the biotech boom that eventually produced life-saving drugs despite widespread business failures.
His assessment positioned AI as following a similar path, with exaggerated valuations but long-term societal benefits.
He underlined that while bubbles amplify risk for investors, they also accelerate experimentation and discovery.
According to Bezos, this dynamic is currently at work in AI, with broad funding enabling both innovative and less practical projects to advance.
When markets eventually settle, the technologies that endure could reshape entire industries.
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