2001 revisited

The AI bubble right now looks a lot like the photonics bubble of 2001.

Companies like Nortel and Williams Communications built enough optical fiber cable and associated equipment to carry 20 years of growth in internet traffic by convincing themselves it would fill in one.

It didn’t. They went bankrupt. Everyone did. But the cables stayed in the ground, picked up for cents in the dollar, and the internet got built on top of them anyway.

If this is how it goes, for the next few years, access to AI will be reserved for those willing to pay a price that provides operational profitability.

No more chatty chat for some.