AmazonfounderJeff Bezoshas said that the current surge of investment in artificial intelligence (AI) constitutes an “industrial bubble” but stressed that the underlying technology is “real” and will bring immense societal benefits.Similar comments have been previously made byOpenAICEOSam Altmanwho reportedly said earlier this year that he believes AI could be in a bubble but it’s “the most important thing to happen in a very long time”.“This is a kind of industrial bubble,” the Amazon founder said while speaking at Italian Tech Week.“The second thing that happens is that people get very excited like they are today about artificial intelligence,” Bezos added, noting that when they happen, stock prices are “disconnected from the fundamentals” of a business.

He said that during bubbles, every experiment or idea gets funded.“The good ideas and the bad ideas. And investors have a hard time in the middle of this excitement, distinguishing between the good ideas and the bad ideas. And that’s also probably happening today,” Bezos said.“But that doesn’t mean anything that is happening isn’t real. AI is real, and it is going to change every industry,” he emphasised.Bezos cited the example of a six-person company receiving billions of dollars in funding as “very unusual behaviour” characterising the current market, though he did not name the company.Despite the inflated valuations, Bezos suggested that industrial bubbles are not inherently negative and “can even be good.” He contrasted them with purely financial bubbles, noting that when the industrial variety bursts and the winners emerge, “societies benefits from those inventions.”This view echoes recent comments from other industry leaders, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who reportedly said the AI market is also in a bubble.“When bubbles happen, smart people get overexcited about a kernel of truth,” Altman told reporters in August, as per The Verge.“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 added.