Bret Taylor, the chairman of
OpenAI's board, has stated that artificial intelligence is "probably" a bubble and expects a market correction in the coming years. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, Taylor told CNBC that both "smart money" and "dumb money" are currently funding AI competitors at every layer of the tech stack.
"When everyone knows that AI is going to have a huge impact on the economy across a huge range of industries and workflows, money is plentiful," Taylor explained. He added that while he expects consolidation and correction over the next few years, innovation requires "that kind of messy competition."
Taylor, who also co-founded AI customer service startup Sierra, described himself as an AI optimist despite his bubble concerns. He believes the free market will ultimately determine which AI players have the best products and where the real value lies.
From dot-com bust to AI boom: Taylor draws parallels
This isn't the first time Taylor has expressed these views. In a September 2025 interview with The Verge, he drew comparisons between today's AI landscape and the late 1990s dot-com bubble. While many companies failed when that bubble burst, Taylor argued that "all the people in 1999 were kind of right" because the internet eventually created massive economic value through companies like Amazon and Google.
"I think it is both true that AI will transform the economy, and I think it will, like the internet, create huge amounts of economic value in the future," Taylor told The Verge. "I think we're also in a bubble, and a lot of people will lose a lot of money. I think both are absolutely true at the same time."
Sierra's $10 billion valuation amid bubble warnings
Taylor's bubble warnings come as his own company rides the AI wave. Sierra, which builds AI agents for customer service, raised $350 million in September 2025 at a $10 billion valuation—a figure Taylor himself acknowledged "almost seems quaint" given the growing number of $100 billion-plus AI companies.
Before launching Sierra, Taylor served as co-CEO of Salesforce, board chairman of Twitter during Elon Musk's takeover, CTO at Facebook (now Meta), and co-created Google Maps. His extensive tech industry experience gives weight to his predictions about AI's trajectory and potential pitfalls.
The TOI Tech Desk is a dedicated team of journalists committed to...
Read MoreThe TOI Tech Desk is a dedicated team of journalists committed to delivering the latest and most relevant news from the world of technology to readers of The Times of India. TOI Tech Desk’s news coverage spans a wide spectrum across gadget launches, gadget reviews, trends, in-depth analysis, exclusive reports and breaking stories that impact technology and the digital universe. Be it how-tos or the latest happenings in AI, cybersecurity, personal gadgets, platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook and more; TOI Tech Desk brings the news with accuracy and authenticity.
Read Less
Start a Conversation
Post comment