Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has dismissed fears of an artificial intelligence bubble, arguing that even if current valuations prove unsustainable, the long-term benefits will outweigh the risks. In a recent interview with CNBC's Squawk Box, Bezos stated, "Even if it does turn out to be a bubble, you shouldn't worry about it because the bubble is driving investment and a lot of the investment is going to turn out to be very healthy."
AI Investment Frenzy
Bezos acknowledged that the excitement around AI is funding every experiment, including questionable ideas. However, he emphasized that the good ideas will compensate for the losers, and society will ultimately benefit from the technological advancements. He likened the AI boom to the biotech bubble of the 1990s, when investor enthusiasm led to a market crash but left behind life-saving drugs. "A lot of investors lost money on certain things, but we still got to keep all the life-saving drugs that they had invented," he said.
Hyperscalers including Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are expected to spend more than $700 billion on AI infrastructure this year. Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has cautioned that investors may be "overexcited about AI," as valuations soar — with OpenAI itself valued at over $850 billion.
Project Prometheus
Bezos revealed that much of his current focus is on Project Prometheus, a startup he launched in November with $6.2 billion in funding. Led alongside former Google X executive Vik Bajaj, the company is building AI models for physical tasks such as engineering, manufacturing, and drug design. Bezos described its goal as creating an "artificial general engineer," a modern evolution of CAD software. He explained why Prometheus was set up independently of Amazon or Blue Origin: "It's its own big idea, and Prometheus, you can get a lot of focus by having a separate company."
Bezos on Tax Policy
During the interview with CNBC anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin, Bezos referenced federal tax data to explain his position on taxation. He noted that the top one percent of taxpayers currently contribute around 40 percent of all federal income tax revenue, while the bottom half contributes about three percent. According to Bezos, that three percent should become zero. "When people are starting out and they're struggling, stop taxing them. We don't need it. We live in the wealthiest country in the world," Bezos said.
He used the example of a nurse living in Queens, stating: "We shouldn't be asking this nurse in Queens to send money to Washington. They should be sending her an apology. It really makes no sense."
This article is based on an interview with Jeff Bezos on CNBC's Squawk Box.
