Bezos compares AI investment surge to internet bubble at Italian Tech Week

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos cautioned towards viewing the present synthetic intelligence funding growth as completely unprecedented whereas acknowledging similarities to earlier expertise bubbles throughout a dialog with Stellantis chairman John Elkann at Italian Tech Week 2025 in Turin on October 1.

The dialogue happened at OGR Torino earlier than 15,000 attendees, marking Bezos’ return to the Italian expertise convention since 2017. Bezos straight addressed market dynamics throughout what he characterised as an “industrial bubble” round AI expertise, drawing express comparisons to the web bubble of 2000.

“Within the 12 months 2000 when the web bubble burst, Amazon’s inventory in a really brief time period went from $113 a share to $6 a share,” Bezos acknowledged. The dramatic inventory worth collapse occurred whereas basic enterprise metrics continued enhancing. “Each month because the inventory worth went from 113 to 6, the variety of clients went up each month. Our gross earnings went up each month. Our working expense, we had been nonetheless in a loss place, however our losses as a proportion of gross sales went down each month. Each single enterprise metric, new clients, buyer repeat purchases, the whole lot that we had been monitoring by means of that complete interval stored getting higher,” he defined.

Bezos distinguished between market valuations and underlying enterprise fundamentals, emphasizing that bubbles can disconnect inventory costs from operational actuality. “That is one remark about bubbles basically. The basics may be disconnected. The basics of the enterprise and naturally as entrepreneurs, you are targeted on the basics of the enterprise. The inventory worth is an output, an final output that you just even have little or no management over,” he famous.

He referenced investor Benjamin Graham’s market knowledge. “Benjamin Graham the good investor is legendary for saying within the brief time period the inventory market is a voting machine in the long run it is a weighing balance and in order founders and entrepreneurs and enterprise individuals our job is to construct a heavy firm we wish to construct an organization that when it’s weighed it’s a very heavy firm,” Bezos acknowledged.

The dialog occurred amid vital AI infrastructure investments by main expertise corporations. Current information reveals Meta announced hundreds of billions in AI infrastructure spending in July 2025, whereas the mixed 2025 capital expenditure throughout main tech corporations represents a 46% enhance from 2024’s $223 billion. Yale research published in October 2024 recognized regarding parallels between present AI market dynamics and previous expertise bubbles.

Bezos acknowledged sample similarities between present AI funding and historic bubbles. “The second factor that occurs when individuals get very excited as they’re right now about synthetic intelligence for instance is each experiment will get funded. Each firm will get funded. The great concepts and the unhealthy concepts. And traders have a tough time in the course of this pleasure distinguishing between the nice concepts and the unhealthy concepts. And in order that’s additionally most likely occurring right now,” he stated.

The Amazon founder emphasised that market hypothesis doesn’t negate technological legitimacy. “However it doesn’t suggest that something that is occurring is not actual. Like AI is actual and it’ll change each trade. In actual fact, it is a very uncommon expertise in that regard in that it is a horizontal enabling layer,” he acknowledged.

Bezos drew distinctions between modern AI corporations and future functions. “Right this moment we discuss AI first corporations like OpenAI and Anthropic and Mestral and so forth and so forth and so forth. There are such a lot of startup corporations which might be form of AI corporations of assorted varieties and that is regular for this section. However that’s not the largest affect that AI goes to have. The largest affect that AI goes to have is it’ll have an effect on each firm on this planet. It will make their high quality go up and their productiveness go up,” he defined.

He continued with particular examples. “I imply by each firm I actually imply each firm. Each manufacturing firm, each resort, each you recognize client merchandise firm and so forth and so forth and so forth. And so that’s arduous to fathom however it’s actual. There is no such thing as a doubt. We do not understand how lengthy it would take precisely. We do not understand how rapidly that transition will happen and it will most likely happen at totally different charges in numerous industries. However that could be very actual,” Bezos acknowledged.

Bezos characterised AI developments as an “industrial bubble” somewhat than a monetary bubble, drawing distinctions between classes. “The beauty of industrial bubbles, it is a form of industrial bubble versus monetary bubbles and I am going to let you know what I imply by that. In the event you return just like the 90s had a biotech bubble and there have been a bunch of pharma startup corporations that had been designing medication and utilizing new methods and the world acquired very excited. The funding world acquired very excited as a bunch. All of them misplaced cash however we did get a few life-saving medication,” he recounted.

He contrasted this with purely monetary bubbles. “A bubble like a banking bubble the disaster within the banking system that is simply unhealthy. That is like 2008. And in order that’s you these bubbles society needs to keep away from. Those which might be industrial should not practically as unhealthy. They may even be good as a result of when the mud settles and also you see who’re the winners, society advantages from these innovations. They nonetheless get these life-saving medication. And that is what is going on to occur right here, too. That is actual. The advantages to society from AI are going to be gigantic,” he acknowledged.

The web bubble comparability prolonged to infrastructure investments. “If we return 25 years in the past when when the web was in that bubbish second, nobody would have predicted lots of the commercial advantages,” Bezos recalled. He highlighted the fiber optic infrastructure legacy. “That industrial bubble and the fiber big funding had been put in infrastructure. It is an ideal instance that every one of that fiber optic cable that acquired laid and by the best way the businesses who laid all that cable went out of enterprise actually went bankrupt however the fiber optic cable was nonetheless there and we acquired to make use of it,” he defined.

Bezos recognized a number of applied sciences experiencing simultaneous development. “We’re gifted to reside in a second of time when there are a number of golden ages occurring. So you could have area journey is in the course of a golden age. AI and AI is a number of various things, by the best way. Center of a golden age. Robotics, center of a golden age,” he acknowledged.

The Amazon founder emphasised entrepreneurial benefits in periods of speedy change. “Stability favors incumbents and speedy change favors small, dynamic, nimble startup corporations. And so the world is so quickly altering proper now. There has by no means been a greater second to be an entrepreneur,” he declared.

Bezos addressed startup firm benefits throughout market turbulence. Small corporations thrive when applied sciences shift quickly as a result of incumbents face disruption whereas startups can adapt rapidly, he defined. “There has by no means been a greater second to be a startup firm,” he added.

The dialog lined entrepreneurial preparation, with Bezos recommending company expertise earlier than founding corporations. “It’s potential to you recognize be 18 19 20 years previous drop out of school and be an awesome entrepreneur and the world is we’ve well-known examples of that working Invoice Gates Mark Zuckerberg and so forth. However these individuals are the exception. I all the time advise to younger individuals, you recognize, go work at a greatest practices firm someplace the place you possibly can study lots of primary basic issues. How one can rent very well, learn how to interview, and so forth. There’s lots of stuff you’d study in a in an awesome firm that may allow you to,” he acknowledged.

Bezos added private context. “After which you possibly can nonetheless there’s nonetheless numerous time to begin an organization after you could have absorbed it. Will increase your odds in my view I began Amazon once I was 30. Not once I was 20 and I feel that that further 10 years of expertise really improved the percentages that Amazon would succeed. So that may all the time be my recommendation and I completed faculty and I loved faculty and I feel it has been useful to me. After which I went on and I labored for I labored for a extremely nice firm referred to as De Shaw the place I realized an amazing quantity large quantity there,” he defined.

Elkann mirrored on the stability between working for established corporations and entrepreneurship. “If I take a look at my very own expertise fortunately I didn’t drop out from faculty and begin my very own firm once I was learning engineering right here and I ended up working for a really massive firm again then which was Common Electrical the place I did discover ways to work the place I had colleagues from many alternative locations who had loads to show me,” he acknowledged, describing his expertise at GE’s Company Audit program from 2000 to 2002.

Bezos emphasised customer-focused technique improvement for long-term success. “In the event you suppose long run it forces you to suppose what are the factors of stability what just isn’t going to vary and one of many issues that adjustments very slowly is buyer wants. And so you possibly can construct a technique round buyer wants that may have sturdiness. Will probably be sturdy in time,” he defined.

He offered Amazon-specific examples. “So an instance at Amazon is that clients like quick deliveries. And so you would you would be you’d by no means count on to 10 years from now it could be unimaginable to think about a buyer saying I really like Amazon. I simply want you delivered somewhat extra slowly. Or I really like Amazon. I simply want your costs had been somewhat larger or and at Blue Origin, I really like your rockets, however I simply want they had been rather less dependable or and so you possibly can these concepts, these large concepts which might be customer-based. They begin with the client. It is an concept that’s within the buyer’s mind. These are those as a result of human nature does not change quickly,” he acknowledged.

Bezos emphasised strategic flexibility paired with directional consistency. “I all the time say be cussed on the imaginative and prescient and versatile on the small print and it’s a must to be as a result of the world is altering and you modify your thoughts. I’ve observed that people who find themselves proper loads change their thoughts loads. People who find themselves improper loads are very cussed on the small print,” he noticed.

The dialogue touched on invention administration inside organizations. Bezos recounted suggestions from early Amazon govt Jeff Wilkey. “Sooner or later within the early days as a result of I actually put me in entrance of a whiteboard and I can give you 100 concepts in half an hour. And early in Amazon’s historical past, Jeff Wilkey got here to me at some point. He labored for Amazon for 1 / 4 of a century. However that is when he most likely knew me just for a 12 months. And he stated, ‘Jeff, you could have sufficient concepts to destroy Amazon,'” Bezos recalled.

He continued the anecdote. “And this was such a stunning concept for me. And I as a founder I had the good luxurious of all the time with the ability to rent my tutors they might rent these skilled senior executives good individuals like Diego and Jeff Wilkey and there have been a number of others too and I’d take heed to them and they might educate me and Jeff stated you could have sufficient concepts per minute per day per week to destroy Amazon I used to be like what do you what do you imply he is it’s a must to launch the work on the proper price that the group can settle for it,” Bezos defined.

Bezos described the manufacturing perspective. “And he was a producing skilled. And so, you recognize, his view of the world was each time I launched an concept, I used to be making a backlog, a queue, work in course of. And since it was simply stacking up, it was including no worth. And in reality, it was creating distraction. And so he stated, ‘Look, it’s a must to work out when to launch these new concepts at a price that the group can settle for them.’ And this was I imply this sounds so apparent however it was not apparent on the time to me and this was a profound perception for me,” he acknowledged.

Bezos defined organizational evolution. “And so I began prioritizing the concepts higher, protecting lists of them, protecting them to myself till the group was prepared for the concepts. After which I additionally began determining how can I construct a corporation that may be prepared for extra concepts. That is about having the proper senior group and the proper management and getting these individuals the manager bandwidth so they might do extra concepts per unit time. And so and that’s what we constructed. We constructed an organization that is excellent at inventing and doing multiple factor at a time,” he famous.

Blue Origin developments featured prominently within the dialog. “I’m working very arduous on Blue Origin. I am working very arduous on AI. I am the least retired particular person on this planet and I’ll by no means retire as a result of work is an excessive amount of enjoyable. It can by no means occur,” Bezos acknowledged when Elkann requested about his present focus.

He introduced the New Glenn automobile launch. “On the finish of this month or perhaps the primary week of November, we’ll launch our New Glenn automobile and we’re sending NASA’s Escapade satellite tv for pc into orbit round Mars. So, that is about to occur,” Bezos revealed. He continued detailing lunar ambitions. “We’re constructing a lunar lander that’s going to land on the moon right here in only a few years. And likewise very thrilling, it is hydrogen powered. It we developed being 20 diploma Kelvin very very chilly 20 levels above absolute zero 20 Kelvin electrical powered photo voltaic powered cryocoolers in order that we will hold liquid hydrogen liquid and have or not it’s a storeable propellant in area,” he defined.

Bezos addressed technical challenges in hydrogen propulsion. “That is very arduous to do. We have already got made wonderful progress on it as a result of hydrogen is the very best performing gas for rocketry for area journey. However it has this downside that it must be stored so chilly that traditionally hasn’t been in a position to been used on deep area missions as a result of it simply boils away. So we’re fixing that downside making hydrogen a storeable gas,” he acknowledged.

The dialogue prolonged to lunar useful resource utilization. “We’re we’re doing R&D into learn how to construct photo voltaic cells photo voltaic cells from lunar regolith on the floor of the moon. As a result of if you are going to go to the moon and keep on the moon, it is advisable be utilizing the sources of the moon. It’s essential to be harvesting the moon to make that price efficient,” Bezos defined.

He emphasised the moon’s strategic significance. “So the moon shall be a launch pad. The moon is a present from the universe. It is so near Earth. It is solely three and a half days away. We now have we will launch and get to the moon anytime. Sadly to get to different planetary our bodies, they’ve very uncommon launch home windows. Mars. You may go to Mars as soon as each 26 months or so. And so the moon can be a present. And it has a really low gravitational subject, solely a sixth of Earth’s, which suggests it takes about 30 instances much less vitality to carry a kilogram of mass off the moon than it does to carry it off the Earth. So we will use the moon as a rocket gas depot to go to the remainder of the photo voltaic system,” he acknowledged.

Bezos predicted tens of millions of individuals residing in area inside many years. “One of many issues that is going to occur within the subsequent, it is arduous to know precisely when. It is 10 plus years, however I wager it is no more than 20 years. We’ll begin constructing these big gigawatt information facilities in area. So, these big coaching clusters, these shall be higher inbuilt area as a result of we’ve solar energy there 24/7. And it is and the solar energy there may be there no clouds and no rain, no climate. So you possibly can construct we shall be it would we can beat the price of terrestrial information facilities in area within the subsequent couple of many years,” he acknowledged.

He continued on area infrastructure functions. “And so area will find yourself being one of many locations that retains making earth higher. It already has occurred with climate satellites. It is already occurred with communication satellites. The following step goes to be information facilities after which other forms of producing,” Bezos added.

When requested about tens of millions residing in area, Bezos confirmed the timeline. “I feel I consider we’ll have in you recognize within the subsequent form of couple of many years I consider there shall be tens of millions of individuals residing in area. That is how briskly that is going to speed up. It is attention-grabbing too as a result of they’re going to principally be residing there as a result of they wish to. Our robotic expertise is getting so good. We do not want individuals to reside in area. Something that would that we want achieved, if it is advisable do some work on the floor of the moon or anyplace else, we will we can ship robots to do this work and that shall be a lot more economical than sending people,” he acknowledged.

The dialogue touched on private influences. Elkann drew parallels between their grandparents’ affect on their careers. He recounted his grandfather’s affect. “One in all one of many similitudes that Jeff and I’ve is we’ve had the fortune of getting a really loving household and amongst a loving household we had very robust relationships with our grandparents and significantly we had grandfathers who had an enormous affect in in what we we did,” Elkann acknowledged.

Bezos shared a formative childhood lesson. “My mom had me when she was very younger. She was she had she was she had simply turned 17 years previous. She was nonetheless in highschool in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In actual fact, they tried to kick her out of highschool for being pregnant. And my grandfather stated, ‘No, you possibly can’t kick her out. It is a public college. She will get to complete highschool.’ So anyway, there she was pregnant with me in highschool and ending in her complete senior 12 months after I used to be born,” he recounted.

He described summers spent on his grandfather’s ranch. “And since she was so younger, my grandparents took me each summer season to in order that she might have, you recognize, another form of life for just a few months. Not she was you recognize when you find yourself a really very younger mom you develop up very quick and so each summer season from the age of three or 4 till I used to be about 16 I went and spent with my grandparents on their ranch in South Texas,” Bezos defined.

Bezos recounted his grandfather’s resourcefulness. “My grandfather at that time so I solely knew him as a rancher he had achieved a bunch of issues in his life however at that time he was a rancher and he did and that is fairly frequent I feel in rural areas that individuals do the whole lot themselves. He did his personal veterinary work. He repaired the whole lot. He had this D6 Caterpillar bulldozer that was he purchased for like $5,000 as a result of it was fully damaged down. And we spent a complete summer season fixing it. And to get the transmission out of the factor, we needed to construct our personal crane,” he acknowledged.

He mirrored on the lesson’s affect. “And so he had an unimaginable resourcefulness to him. You already know, he had he believed he might remedy any downside. And I form of watched him, you recognize, his veterinary work on the cattle. He would make his personal needles. He would get somewhat piece of wire and warmth it up with a blowtorch and pound it flat after which sharpen it and drill somewhat gap by means of it. A number of the cattle even survived,” Bezos recounted, prompting laughter from the viewers.

Bezos shared a pivotal childhood second about kindness. “I believed I used to be a really good little child. I used to be very assured and this I am solely at this level perhaps 10 years previous. And this was, you recognize, this is able to have been 1974 and there have been lots of radio commercials on the automobile radio about how smoking cigarettes kills you. This was 10 years after the US surgeon basic’s warning and it was nonetheless like there was large campaigns to get individuals to give up smoking,” he defined.

He continued the story. “And certainly one of these radio commercials stated, ‘Each puff on a cigarette takes two minutes off of your life.’ And my grandmother was a sequence smoker. She smoked all day lengthy. And so all the time once we had been within the automobile, she would have the window down and she or he’d be smoking the entire time. And I hated this. I believed it was smelled unhealthy and I did not prefer it. And I used to be listening to those radio commercials. And so I made a decision I’d calculate what number of years of her life she had taken off by if each puff is 2 minutes. And I did some estimating and I stood up in a again of the automobile and I proudly introduced that she had taken I do not keep in mind what the quantity was, as an example seven years off of her life,” Bezos acknowledged.

Timeline

Abstract

Who: Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Stellantis chairman John Elkann engaged in a public dialog earlier than 15,000 attendees at Italian Tech Week 2025.

What: Bezos in contrast present AI funding patterns to the 2000 web bubble, acknowledging similarities whereas emphasizing basic variations between market valuations and expertise’s societal advantages. He characterised AI as an “industrial bubble” that may produce lasting improvements regardless of potential investor losses.

When: The dialog happened on October 1, 2025, at OGR Torino throughout Italian Tech Week 2025, marking Bezos’ return to the Italian expertise convention since 2017.

The place: The dialogue occurred in Turin, Italy, on the annual Italian Tech Week convention based in 2018, which has grown from 100 preliminary attendees to fifteen,000 members constrained solely by venue capability.

Why: The dialog addressed entrepreneur considerations about present AI funding ranges and market dynamics whereas offering perspective from Bezos’ expertise navigating the web bubble at Amazon. The dialogue aimed to tell apart between short-term market fluctuations and basic technological transformation affecting industries globally.