Daijiworld Media Network- San Francisco

San Francisco, Aug 20: OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman has drawn a sharp comparison between today’s artificial intelligence (AI) frenzy and the infamous dot-com bubble of the 1990s, cautioning investors against “irrational” funding trends that could end in heavy losses.

In an interaction with journalists last week, Altman reportedly admitted that the soaring valuations of AI startups reminded him of the Internet boom – where excitement and speculation far outpaced reality. “When bubbles happen, smart people get overexcited about a kernel of truth. The internet was a really big deal. Tech was really important. But people got overexcited,” The Verge quoted him as saying.

Altman further took a dig at fledgling startups with little more than an idea, yet raising millions in funding rounds. “Investors putting money into startups with three people and no product – that’s insane. Someone’s gonna get burned there. Someone is going to lose a phenomenal amount of money,” he warned.

To highlight his concerns, Altman referred to the early 2000s market crash when the Nasdaq index lost nearly 75 percent of its value as several internet firms collapsed, unable to sustain beyond investor hype. While giants like Amazon and Google survived, most others faded into history.

Interestingly, his remarks come at a time when OpenAI’s own co-founders and former executives have launched ventures like Ilya Sutskever’s Safe Superintelligence and Mira Murati’s Thinking Machines Lab – both attracting billions in funding despite remaining in stealth mode.

Nevertheless, Altman clarified that he does not see the AI wave as entirely disastrous. He emphasised that those with a deep understanding of the technology stand to gain immensely, and that in the long run, AI would be a “net win for the economy.”