The head of one of the most successful artificial intelligence companies says some of his competitors are overspending on AI technology.
Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) CEO Dario Amodei commented on the artificial intelligence industry while speaking with Andrew Ross Sorkin at the New York Times DealBook Summit on Wednesday, adding that while there are risks in developing new technologies like artificial intelligence, some companies are entering an uncertain future.
“I think there’s a level of irreducible risk here, and I definitely don’t want to deny that,” Amodai said.
“But at the same time, I think some players are not managing that risk well. They are taking unwise risks.”
When asked which company would take such a risk, Amodei demurred, but floated the idea of a consumer AI company with uncertain profit margins and run by someone who was “essentially…YOLO.” [you only live once] things, or just like big numbers. “
Anthropic has many competitors in the artificial intelligence space, but its biggest ones include Google (GOOG, GOOGL), OpenAI (OPAI.PVT), Microsoft (MSFT) and Meta (META). While these companies have all spent billions of dollars building out artificial intelligence, OpenAI stands out with its more than $1 trillion in spending commitments.
Read more: How to protect your portfolio from the AI bubble
“I think the uncertainty about how fast economic value will grow and the lag time in building the data centers that drive economic value creates a real dilemma,” Amodei explained when discussing the risks of an AI bubble.
“Some players… take their risks too far. I was very worried,” he explained.
The CEO also talked about the difficulty of planning when to spend on data centers, explaining that he would have to fund servers for 2027 models in 2024.
Not building enough servers will mean the company won’t be able to power its artificial intelligence. However, overspending can lead to bankruptcy.
Amodei isn’t the only CEO to warn about the AI bubble. According to The Verge, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman told a small group of reporters in August that there may be a bubble in artificial intelligence.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also warned of the boom in AI spending during an appearance at Italy Tech Week in October.
Concerns about an AI bubble have begun to dampen some of Wall Street’s enthusiasm for AI-related stocks. Nvidia, in particular, saw its shares fall 13% last month despite rising more than 33% year to date.
Email Daniel Howley at dhowley@technology shoutfinance.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DanielHowley.
