Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has raised concerns about the excessive spending in the AI industry, warning that it could lead to dire consequences.
Amodei Questions ‘Economic Value’ Of AI Spending
Amodei, speaking at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit on Wednesday, expressed his apprehensions about the current spending trends in the AI sector. He pointed out that while the technological advancements are promising, the economic side of the industry is precarious due to overspending, particularly by competitors.
Amodei emphasized the potential risks associated with this overspending, especially if there are timing errors. He described the situation as a “core dilemma” and expressed concerns about the uncertainty of AI’s economic value growth and the lag time in building the data centers that drive it.
“I think there may be players in the ecosystem who, if they just make a timing error, they just get it off by a little bit, bad things can happen," stated the CEO.
The industry has begun calling the surge in AI investment "YOLO" (You Only Live Once). Amodei noted how difficult it is to forecast future compute requirements and warned of the risks of both under- and over-investing.
“I think there are some players who are YOLO, and I'm very concerned," said Amodei.
He also emphasized that companies and governments must start preparing for large-scale workforce retraining as AI rapidly evolves and absorbs more jobs.
Experts Divided On AI Spending Spree
The AI industry’s spending has been a topic of concern recently. The CEO of IBM (NYSE: IBM), Arvind Krishna, warned that the math behind the AI supercycle doesn’t add up, with an estimated $8 trillion in capital spending requiring about $800 billion in profit just to service the interest.
Despite these concerns, AI spending has been a crucial factor in the U.S. economy, with a recent analysis by The Kobeissi Letter revealing that without the massive capital infusion into AI infrastructure, the U.S. would currently be in an economic recession.
Anthropic's 2026 IPO Momentum
Meanwhile, Anthropic, backed by Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN), is laying the legal and financial groundwork for what could be one of the largest tech IPOs ever. The company has hired Silicon Valley firm, Wilson Sonsini for early IPO prep and is negotiating a funding round that may push its valuation above $300 billion, indicating a major step toward a potential 2026 public debut.
It was reported in October that the company expects to hit its $9 billion annual revenue run-rate target by the end of 2025 and is projecting $20–26 billion in annualized revenue next year, driven by strong enterprise demand. Its current run rate is nearing $7 billion, up from more than $5 billion in August.