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OpenAI’s Sam Altman points to AI ‘bubble’

Aug 19, 2025, 6:33am EDT
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Sam Altman, CEO of Microsoft-backed OpenAI and ChatGPT creator speaks during a talk at Tel Aviv University.
Amir Cohen/File Photo/Reuters

Sam Altman described artificial intelligence as a “bubble,” but also said the technology was “the most important thing to happen in a very long time.”

Investors are chasing “a kernel of truth” but are “overexcited” about AI, the OpenAI CEO said, with some valuations becoming “insane.”

A number of experts agree: The Apollo investment group’s chief economist noted that tech firms’ price-earnings ratios are unusually elevated, reminiscent of the late-1990s dotcom boom and subsequent crash, and also that spending on data center infrastructure accounts for a worryingly high percentage of US GDP growth.

Altman, though, said OpenAI would “spend trillions of dollars on datacenter construction in the not very distant future,” even if economists think it “reckless.”

A chart showing global private investment in AI
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