ChatGPT triggers hype: AI shares rise
Analysts warn of 'speculative bubble' as some stocks more than double in value this year

Due to the euphoria surrounding ChatGPT and other generative AI models, the stock prices of smaller artificial intelligence companies have soared this year, prompting analysts to warn of a "speculative" bubble.
AI that can create poems and stories, develop graphics on command and answer questions in fluent text, among other things, had a breakthrough last year. Microsoft is looking to challenge Google's hegemony in the Internet search industry by leveraging technology from OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot. Alphabet wants to keep consumers engaged with its own conversational AI service, Bard.
Investor interest in generative AI is high, as Big Tech is already using the technology. In late January, after CEO Jonah Peretti claimed that "AI-inspired content" would appear on the company's website later this year, BuzzFeed's shares jumped 150 percent in a single day.
According to Morgan Stanley analysts, the generative AI technology "exhibited all the usual hallmarks of hype. Echo chambers on social media, exponential venture capital and polarized media." "And what do you think of ChatGPT?" was a common question during our travels around the U.S. last week, ostensibly to discuss decarbonization and reshoring.
The benefits are being reaped by U.S. companies offering a wide range of AI-related services.
The stock price of SoundHound AI, a company specializing in "voice to meaning" technology, is up 94% this month. Year-to-date, shares of C3.ai and BigBear.ai are up 103% and 561%, respectively, although both are still far below their all-time highs reached during the stock market boom that began in 2020.
These organizations have quickly gained traction with ordinary investors who have recently put money into stocks as the outlook for the global economy has improved. As long as macroeconomic conditions remain favorable, data provider VandaTrack predicted this week that speculative interest in artificial intelligence stocks will continue.
According to UBS, ChatGPT in particular has attracted attention after attracting more than 100 million monthly active users in January after launching the month before.
The bank claimed, "In the 20 years we've been tracking the Internet space, we can't recall a faster rise in an online consumer app." "Instagram took 2.5 years to add 100 million users after its global launch, while TikTok took nine months."
Still, some investors, reeling from last year's sudden drop in the value of once high-flying blockchain and Web3 stocks, are wary of betting on the latest hype. After Bard's vague response to an inquiry last week regarding images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope, Alphabet shares fell about 8%.
Others are concerned about the impact of technology on employment. According to Rabobank, replacing brains with machines will have the same impact on middle-class occupations as replacing brawn with machines has on working-class jobs: many will be wiped out, and those who remain will have to be either extremely skilled or extremely unskilled.
