AOC warns we may be in a 'massive' AI bubble with '2008-style threats to economic stability' (www.businessinsider.com)

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez warned at a House hearing that the rapid concentration of market growth and investment around AI — led by Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta — could be inflating a “massive” bubble with “2008‑style” systemic risks to the U.S. economy. She argued the federal government should refuse bailouts for AI firms if the bubble bursts and criticized profit pressures that she says are driving potentially exploitative chatbot business models that mine users’ deepest fears and personal data. Her comments follow a high‑profile moment when OpenAI’s CFO floated the idea of a federal “backstop,” then walked it back, and come as Wall Street eyes Nvidia’s earnings for signals of industry weakness. The concern centers on whether heavy, circular spending on compute and AI infrastructure will ultimately be justified by sustainable revenues — or whether it’s creating fragile asset bubbles tied to a few dominant players. For the AI/ML community, the debate matters for funding models, regulatory scrutiny, and deployment practices: continued hyper‑investment could accelerate compute scaling and model advances, but it also raises governance questions around data use, monetization of intimate user interactions, and who bears systemic financial risk. Investors, researchers and policymakers will be watching earnings, capital commitments and regulatory responses closely in the coming months.