Why the AI Boom Is Not the Dotcom Bubble
Australian Financial Review
SKIPPED
Details
- Date Published
- 20 Nov 2025
- Priority Score
- 2
- Australian
- Yes
- Created
- 22 Nov 2025, 11:58 am
Description
It’s the biggest spending spree in history. Is the AI boom a bubble, and what does it mean for investors and the Australian economy if it bursts?
Summary
The article examines the ongoing AI boom and contrasts it with the dotcom bubble, offering insights into why the current boom may not lead to a similar crash. It discusses key economic indicators and investment trends that differentiate the AI boom, highlighting the stability and spread of AI investments compared to the concentrated and speculative nature of the late 1990s dotcom investments. Luke Kinsella presents arguments on how diverse applications of AI across industries and increased regulatory awareness may buffer against catastrophic economic fallout. While it provides valuable perspectives on the economic implications, the article does not specifically address existential or catastrophic risks associated with AI technologies.
Body
Luke KinsellaReporterNov 22, 2025 – 5.00amSaveLog inorSubscribeto save articleShareCopy linkCopiedEmailLinkedInTwitterFacebookCopy linkCopiedShare via...Gift this articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber?LoginAlan Greenspan was halfway through a speech on December 5, 1996 when he asked if markets were displaying “irrational exuberance” – two words that triggered a precipitous correction in global stocks.The chairman of the Federal Reserve was speaking at a time when the Nasdaq had doubled in two years and the S&P 500 was up 60 per cent and trading at a then eye-popping 18 times earnings.Loading...SaveLog inorSubscribeto save articleShareCopy linkCopiedEmailLinkedInTwitterFacebookCopy linkCopiedShare via...Gift this articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber?LoginLicense articleFollow the topics, people and companies that matter to you.Find out moreRead MoreAIInvestingOpenAINvidiaSharesFuture technologyData centresMicrosoftMetaGoogleSharemarketVolatilityPerspectiveAFR WeekendLuke KinsellaReporterLuke Kinsella is a journalist based in The Australian Financial Review’s Sydney office. He was previously a policy analyst at Treasury.EmailLukeatluke.kinsella@nine.com.auFetching latest articlesThis lawyer has collected more than 600 broochesHannah TattersallPrices for this under-the-radar watch brand are surgingWhy your mascara and skincare should be in a time capsuleAustralia’s 50 highest-paid CEOs in 2025 revealedPatrick DurkinWhy more company directors need to speak outWhy this CEO insists on 2 referee checks, and often does them herselfAn MJ Bale shorts-suit and a new IWC watch to ring in summerEugenie KellyWhy Mount Gambier’s rock-star grapes are worth travelling forForget the typical Euro hustle – Bordeaux is a place to pauseInside Australia’s most expensive country estateGreg BearupThe moment that led to a $750m coal fortune and a Ferrari obsessionLaundys sell pub on NSW’s Central Coast for $18.5 million