Worried About an AI Bubble? Look for These Four ‘O’s
Australian Financial Review
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Details
- Date Published
- 16 Dec 2025
- Priority Score
- 1
- Australian
- Unknown
- Created
- 16 Dec 2025, 05:16 am
Description
Tallying up all four suggest AI is a bubble. However, history also shows that there is no exact point at which a bubble bursts under its own weight.
Summary
The article examines potential signs of a bubble in the artificial intelligence sector through the lens of four economic indicators: overvaluation, over-ownership, over-investment, and over-leverage. Each of these factors is explored to determine if the current market for AI is experiencing a speculative bubble. While the concept of a bubble is familiar from history, discerning the exact point at which such a bubble may burst remains elusive. The piece highlights broader economic concerns rather than focusing on AI safety or governance, offering an investment-oriented perspective on AI's growth.
Body
WealthInvestingAIPrint articleUpdated Dec 17, 2025 – 2.12pm, first published at Dec 16, 2025 – 4.00pmSaveLog in or Subscribe to 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? LoginAmid the chatter about artificial intelligence mania, people have begun to joke about “a bubble in bubble talk”. Google searches for AI with the b-word have surged and the mood in the markets feels exuberant, but beyond these soft indicators there is no standard measure of a bubble.My test focuses on four Os: overvaluation, over-ownership, over-investment and over-leverage. Here’s how AI scores now.Loading...Financial TimesRuchir Sharma is chair of Rockefeller International. His latest book is “What Went Wrong With Capitalism”.SaveLog in or Subscribe to 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? LoginFollow the topics, people and companies that matter to you.Find out moreRead MoreAIOpinionJapanTrump's AmericaInvestingMetaGoogleFetching latest articlesThe untold story of the most lethal Sydney to Hobart race in 26 yearsTony Davis24 new watches to ring out the year (from $170 to $218k)‘YIMBY is a misnomer. They haven’t got backyards’The 5 biggest corporate stuff-ups of 2025James ThomsonLeaders fail because they don’t understand one thing, says this CEOBega CEO reveals his latest health obsession (it’s not only protein)This is the wine young people are drinkingMax AllenWhy everyone is wearing straw hatsA first look at Melbourne’s new $150m luxury hotelKatie Page’s horse sale gets a brush with cultureMichael BaileyBillionaire Rinehart loses bid for helipad at pink-themed HQImmutable late accounts reveal $72m loss despite big revenue growth