OpenAI CEO Sam Altman thinks that the billions of {dollars} invested in AI now may create a bubble just like the dot-com crash of the early 2000s.
“Are we in a section the place buyers as a complete are overexcited about AI? My opinion is sure,” Altman stated at a latest dinner, per The Verge. “Sensible individuals get overexcited a few kernel of reality.”
The information reveals that AI startups are the main target of extra funding now than ever. In keeping with PitchBook, AI startups raised $104.3 billion within the U.S. within the first half of 2025, which was nearly as a lot as the entire quantity raised by all startups in 2024. PitchBook discovered that just about two in three U.S. enterprise funding {dollars} went to AI startups this 12 months, larger than 49% of funds final 12 months.
Associated: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman Says Older Staff Have to Embrace AI — or Face Dropping Their Jobs
Altman famous that AI startup valuations have now reached “insane” heights, as startups increase tons of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} with simply an concept, signaling a bubble, per CNBC.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg through Getty Photos
OpenAI is an instance of an organization that has raised billions of {dollars} to gas its AI efforts. In March, the startup raised $40 billion within the largest non-public tech funding spherical ever, at a $300 billion valuation.
What was the dot-com bubble?
Altman in contrast the AI bubble to “the tech bubble” or the dot-com crash that occurred between 2000 and 2002 when the Nasdaq misplaced practically 80% of its worth.
The dot-com crash was brought on by buyers overvaluing Web-based tech firms that lacked sustainable enterprise fashions and had little to no earnings. When the dot-com bubble burst, buyers incurred appreciable monetary losses, and lots of tech firms went out of enterprise.
Associated: OpenAI Is Creating AI to Do ‘All of the Issues That Software program Engineers Hate to Do’
Bubble or not, OpenAI continues to be rising
Even when an inflow of funding is contributing to an AI bubble, Altman says that OpenAI nonetheless intends to spend closely, as much as “trillions of {dollars} on datacenter building within the not very distant future,” in keeping with CNBC. The corporate is betting on rising demand to bolster spending.
OpenAI’s flagship product, ChatGPT, now reaches 700 million weekly customers, a fourfold improve from the identical time final 12 months. Altman stated on the dinner that ChatGPT is “the fifth largest web site on the planet proper now” and is angling to maneuver as much as the third slot by beating out Fb and Instagram. Google and YouTube are the two top-visited websites on the planet as of January.
It is also releasing new, up to date variations of its AI. Earlier this month, OpenAI launched its newest AI mannequin, GPT-5, which is extra environment friendly and boasts enhancements in coding, math, and different topics in comparison with earlier fashions.
Altman says that AI is “an important factor to occur in a really very long time.”
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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman thinks that the billions of {dollars} invested in AI now may create a bubble just like the dot-com crash of the early 2000s.
“Are we in a section the place buyers as a complete are overexcited about AI? My opinion is sure,” Altman stated at a latest dinner, per The Verge. “Sensible individuals get overexcited a few kernel of reality.”
The information reveals that AI startups are the main target of extra funding now than ever. In keeping with PitchBook, AI startups raised $104.3 billion within the U.S. within the first half of 2025, which was nearly as a lot as the entire quantity raised by all startups in 2024. PitchBook discovered that just about two in three U.S. enterprise funding {dollars} went to AI startups this 12 months, larger than 49% of funds final 12 months.
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