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AI Boom Draws Bubble Warnings as Industry Leaders and Big Money Flag Retail-Driven Risks

New warnings focus on whether unprecedented data‑center spending will be supported by realistic near‑term revenue.

Overview

  • At Lisbon’s Web Summit, executives from DeepL, Picsart and Lyft said valuations look stretched, with some startups backed on "vibe revenue" rather than sales.
  • DWS CEO Stefan Hoops said the AI rally is led by retail investors and lacks a historical playbook, noting behavior in a prolonged downturn is untested.
  • An Accel report projected roughly 117 gigawatts of new AI data‑center capacity by 2030, implying about $4 trillion in capex and around $3.1 trillion in revenue needed to pay it back.
  • Michael Burry accused hyperscalers of understating chip depreciation and disclosed put options against Nvidia and Palantir, intensifying scrutiny of AI profits.
  • Views diverge on durability and scale of spending, with some citing long‑lived industrial demand and others arguing capex, chip and energy needs are being overestimated; reports also note SoftBank’s sale of its Nvidia stake.