Alphabet Chief Executive Sundar Pichai has warned that a crash in the booming artificial intelligence sector would affect every company in the industry, including Google itself.
Speaking to the BBC in an interview published Tuesday, Pichai said the rapid flow of money into AI has created an “extraordinary moment,” but one that contains “elements of irrationality” similar to the market euphoria seen during the dot-com era.
With analysts increasingly warning that AI valuations may be running ahead of reality, Pichai acknowledged that even the most established companies would feel the impact of a downturn. “I think no company is going to be immune, including us,” he said when asked how Google would navigate a potential bubble burst.
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Alphabet shares have risen sharply this year as investors rally behind its competition with OpenAI. But concerns over inflated AI expectations have already begun to influence U.S. markets, with UK officials also signalling the possibility of overheating.
Pichai highlighted ongoing investments in the United Kingdom, including Alphabet’s 5-billion-pound commitment to AI infrastructure and research. He confirmed that Google will begin training AI models in Britain, a development welcomed by Prime Minister Keir Starmer as part of the country’s push to position itself as a top-tier AI power.
The Google CEO also stressed that AI’s energy footprint poses a growing challenge, warning that the company’s net-zero ambitions will face delays as demand for computing capacity accelerates.