The Rest Is Money 215. How Near Is An AI Crash?
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Oct 12, 2025 
Azeem Azhar, founder of Exponential View, dives into the AI landscape’s potential bubble and its societal impacts. He discusses the valuation of AI firms like OpenAI, warning about inflated hype lacking real customer revenues. The conversation highlights how AI may favor experienced workers over newer talent and examines the energy demands of AI technologies. As U.S. job patterns shift, Azeem emphasizes the need for policy adjustments like retraining and welfare redesign to navigate the AI-driven future.
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OpenAI: High Growth, Huge Funding Gap
- OpenAI may be executing well with rapid user growth but faces enormous capital needs to reach profitability.
- Azhar highlighted a $500bn valuation vs estimated end-of-year revenues around $12–14bn and large future funding requirements.
Watch Circular Vendor Equity Deals
- Azhar warned of circular deal structures where vendors take equity, creating mutual propping up of valuations.
- He compared current chip-provider equity ties to telecoms-era circularity that worsened that bubble's collapse.
AI Won't Flood An Oversupplied Grid
- Concerns that AI energy demand may outstrip supply are misplaced given broader 21st-century energy needs.
- Azhar argued AI demand can drive necessary energy investment and efficiency improvements across sectors.