OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has warned that the artificial intelligence sector may be entering a bubble, comparing current investor enthusiasm to the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. He acknowledged that AI is one of the most significant technological shifts in decades but argued that investor excitement is running ahead of reality. Other prominent voices, including Joe Tsai, Ray Dalio, and Torsten Slok, have raised similar concerns about overvaluation in AI.
Altman’s remarks come as OpenAI continues rapid growth, projecting $20 billion in annual recurring revenue this year while remaining unprofitable. Despite skepticism surrounding the launch of GPT-5 and the company’s claims about progress toward artificial general intelligence, investor confidence has remained strong, with OpenAI preparing a secondary stock sale valuing it at roughly $500 billion.
He also highlighted the risks of speculative capital flowing into weaker companies, while noting that the fundamentals for AI infrastructure and semiconductors remain solid. Beyond software, OpenAI is exploring areas such as consumer hardware, brain-computer interfaces, and even potential acquisitions if regulatory changes force major tech divestments. Altman suggested the company may eventually spend trillions on data centers, underscoring both the scale of its ambitions and the challenges of sustaining long-term growth in a possibly overheated market.
Source:
Butts, D. (2025, agosto 18). OpenAI’s Sam Altman sees AI bubble forming as industry spending surges. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/18/openai-sam-altman-warns-ai-market-is-in-a-bubble.html