Ars Live recap: Is the AI bubble about to pop? Ed Zitron weighs in.

“Nvidia's growth is what's causing the bubble to inflate,” Zitron said. “If their growth slows down, the bubble will burst.”

He also warned of broader implications: “I think a depression is coming. I think once the markets realize that technology is not going to keep going forever, they will aggressively flush the toilet in Silicon Valley.” This ties into his broader thesis: the tech industry has exhausted the possibilities for true hypergrowth and is trying to create it with AI.

“Is there anything that would disprove your assumption that a bubble and crash are happening?” I asked. – What if you're wrong?

“I answered: “What if you’re wrong?” for one and a half to two years, so I’m not worried about this issue, so what should have proven me right should have already happened,” he said. Among Sam Altman's more detailed description, Zitron said: “What would have to happen by inference would have to be… it would have to be hundredths of a cent per million tokens, they would have to print money, and then it would have to be a lot more useful. It would have to have the effectiveness that it doesn't have, the hallucination problem… it would have to be fixable, and besides, someone would have to fix the agents.”

Positive task

Towards the end of our conversation, I wondered if I could flip the script, so to speak, and see if he could say anything positive or optimistic, even though I had chosen the most difficult topic for him. “What's the best thing about Sam Altman?” – I asked. -Can you say anything good about him at all?

“I understand why you're asking this,” Zitron began, “but I want to be clear: Sam Altman is going to be the reason the markets screw up. Sam Altman lied to everyone. Sam Altman lied forever.” He continued: “Like the Pied Piper, he led the markets into the abyss, and yes, people should have known better, but I hope that in the end Sam Altman will be seen for what he is: a conman and a very successful one.”

He then added, “You know what? I'll say something good about him, he's really good at getting people to say yes.