Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Lisa Su, CEO of Advanced Micro Devices, testify during the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing titled “Winning the AI Race: Strengthening U.S. Capabilities in Computing and Innovation,” in Hart building on Thursday, May 8, 2025.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
There’s a bubble forming in the artificial intelligence industry, according to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
“Are we in a phase where investors as a whole are overexcited about AI? My opinion is yes. Is AI the most important thing to happen in a very long time? My opinion is also yes,” Altman said, according to a report by The Verge.
Altman’s AI company is currently in talks to sell about $6 billion in stock that would value OpenAI at around $500 billion, CNBC confirmed Friday.
In another context, Altman warned that the U.S. may be underestimating the progress that China is making in AI.
Given the above premises, should investors be more cautious about OpenAI? Altman was not posed this question, but one wonders whether his opinion would also be “yes.”
Outside pure-play AI companies, the money is, likewise, still flowing. Intel is receiving a $2 billion injection of cash from Japan’s SoftBank.
It’s a much-needed boost to the beleaguered U.S. chipmaker. Intel has fallen behind foreign rivals such as TSMC and Samsung in manufacturing semiconductors that serve as the brains for AI models.
But going by Altman’s views, the investment in Intel might not be a good bet by SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son.
Not everyone agrees with Altman, of course. Ray Wang, research director for semiconductors, supply chain and emerging technology at Futurum Group, pointed out that the AI industry is not heterogeneous. There are market leaders, and then there are companies that are still developing.
In the real world, bubbles delight because they reflect their surroundings in a play of light. But the bubble Altman described could be one doesn’t show the face of its observer.
— CNBC’s Dylan Butts contributed to this report
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China News Service | China News Service | Getty Images
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