Four AI chatbots were asked if an AI bubble is about to burst

A Tom's Guide writer asked ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity whether there is an AI bubble, when it could burst and what happens if it does. All four said parts of the AI industry could collapse. None could name a date.

What each one said

• ChatGPT: parts of AI may be a bubble, but AI is not a fad. Its worst-case window for a reckoning is 2027 through 2029.
• Gemini: compared the boom to the dot-com crash of 2000 to 2002, but said Amazon and Microsoft have other businesses to fall back on.
• Perplexity: saw signs of a bubble in startup funding and infrastructure spending, but not proof the whole industry is overvalued.

ChatGPT said a crash could come if AI revenue fails to keep up with spending on infrastructure, or if customers find AI delivers less value than expected. Perplexity added that a stock-market bust and a debt crisis are different. It said the debt crisis would spread much further through the economy.

What is not known

No one can reliably predict a crash, and ChatGPT said so directly. These are chatbot answers, not forecasts. The writer's summary does not detail what Claude said. The question was prompted by news of a China AI market crash that wiped out $480 billion.

For readers, the practical point is that investments, retirement funds or business tools tied to AI companies could feel any correction. The chatbots also stressed that the technology could keep improving even if prices fall.