According to Bezos, industrial bubbles are beneficial. Companies that raised a ton of money on the AI hype wave may disappear, but the infrastructure and technologies will remain and serve society.
As examples, he cited the fiber optic cable network left over from the dot-com crash and the new drugs that emerged after the biotech investment boom of the 1990s.
He classified the 2008 financial crisis as a "bad" bubble. They are useless and should be avoided.
Bezos also predicted that in the next couple of decades, millions of people will voluntarily live in space, and solar-powered AI data centers will be built beyond Earth.
This is an interesting perspective
Agreed, I especially appreciate where he says:
This seems like wisdom.
Indeed, I am optimistic about the potential of artificial intelligence. I believe it has the capacity to generate substantial wealth and enhance access to endeavors that require time and expertise to master. For instance, could we envision the advent of AI-powered flights in the future? While it may take several decades, the goal should be to make air travel as affordable as public bus services.
Is the most expensive part of a plane/flight the pilot?
From a labor standpoint yes. All pilots are required to have a certain amount of time for sleep and rest. AI can bypass the downtime increasing the margins for flying
Triggered me some glancing at airline quarterlies. 30% of opex is salaries&co for the ones I looked at.
Imagine: FlyX haha
Hahahaha
The distinction between an infrastructure bubble vs financial bubble is correct imo.
AI is following internet, telecom, railroads etc. most investors lost out on the hype cycle but the underlying buildout was later used and benefited society after a range of bankruptcy and M&A occurred
It's interesting how speculators' money can benefit society, sometimes even when they lose.
It has parallels with how prediction markets provide information (= a public good).
Pursuing off earth energy makes the most sense for a ton of reasons. Most importantly it pushes everyone forward working together to achieve it.
Thanks for posting! 👌
Images from AI sometimes are near to real people.
He's just trying to make people forget about that faceplant.
archived link
Bezos is right about the lasting value of certain bubbles. The capital influx fuels infrastructure that outlives the hype. The dot com fiber network is a perfect example. Although space based solar powered AI centers sound bold but the real challenge will be the economics of transporting and maintaining such systems...