Boom or Bubble? The soaring stakes in the AI gold rush

India Today

7 days ago

The global AI industry is witnessing record-breaking investments, with US firms like OpenAI, xAI, and Anthropic dominating the valuation charts.
There has never been a surge in investment in the artificial intelligence industry like what's happening now. Billions of dollars are pouring into firms promising to change the future of technology. This surge came after OpenAI released ChatGPT, an AI chatbot based on the GPT language model.
OpenAI is at the top of the AI valuation table. According to a report by CB Insights, it is now the most valuable AI startup in the world, worth USD 300 billion. It has grown quickly thanks to partnerships and a wave of funding, with the most recent round bringing in $40 billion in March 2025, led by SoftBank Group.
Apart from OpenAI, Databricks and Anthropic are two other US-based firms betting on AI and worth more than USD 60 billion. Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, has also made it to the top, making it one of the four AI businesses among the world's ten most valuable private tech companies.
The dominance of US-based companies in this sector is striking. Seven of the eight highest-valued AI startups are headquartered in the United States. The only exception is Celonis, a German firm specialising in process optimisation through AI and other technologies. Despite its European roots, Celonis has a strong presence in the US market and is currently valued at $13 billion.
One of the newer entrants generating buzz is Safe Superintelligence, a US startup founded just last year by a team of former OpenAI, Apple, and academic researchers. Despite raising only USD 3 billion, the company is already valued at USD 30 billion. Its mission is to build a superintelligent AI system that prioritises safety above all else.
Another startup making headlines is Thinking Machines Lab, founded by former OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati. It has just closed a massive USD 2 billion seed round, pushing its valuation to USD 12 billion.
However, not all that glitters in AI space is gold. As companies scale up AI projects, a recent Gartner report warns that over 40 per cent of projects involving "agentic" AI (systems designed to make decisions and act autonomously) will be cancelled by the end of 2027. The research firm cites high development costs, unclear return on investment, and technological immaturity as key reasons. It also raised a growing trend of "agent washing," where companies label traditional tools as intelligent agents without delivering on the promises. However, Gartner reports that agentic AI adoption is growing steadily, forecasting that by 2028, it will drive 15 per cent of daily business decisions and power a third of enterprise applications.
Despite the rising valuations and adoption of AI in everyday life, public perception remains cautious, sharply contrasting with expert views. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that while 47 per cent of AI researchers feel more excited than concerned about AI's growing role in daily life, 51 per cent of US adults feel the opposite. Both groups are worried about misinformation, deepfakes, and privacy issues, but they disagree on things like losing jobs and being socially isolated.
There has never been a surge in investment in the artificial intelligence industry like what's happening now. Billions of dollars are pouring into firms promising to change the future of technology. This surge came after OpenAI released ChatGPT, an AI chatbot based on the GPT language model.
OpenAI is at the top of the AI valuation table. According to a report by CB Insights, it is now the most valuable AI startup in the world, worth USD 300 billion. It has grown quickly thanks to partnerships and a wave of funding, with the most recent round bringing in $40 billion in March 2025, led by SoftBank Group.
Apart from OpenAI, Databricks and Anthropic are two other US-based firms betting on AI and worth more than USD 60 billion. Elon Musk's AI company, xAI, has also made it to the top, making it one of the four AI businesses among the world's ten most valuable private tech companies.
The dominance of US-based companies in this sector is striking. Seven of the eight highest-valued AI startups are headquartered in the United States. The only exception is Celonis, a German firm specialising in process optimisation through AI and other technologies. Despite its European roots, Celonis has a strong presence in the US market and is currently valued at $13 billion.
One of the newer entrants generating buzz is Safe Superintelligence, a US startup founded just last year by a team of former OpenAI, Apple, and academic researchers. Despite raising only USD 3 billion, the company is already valued at USD 30 billion. Its mission is to build a superintelligent AI system that prioritises safety above all else.
Another startup making headlines is Thinking Machines Lab, founded by former OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati. It has just closed a massive USD 2 billion seed round, pushing its valuation to USD 12 billion.
However, not all that glitters in AI space is gold. As companies scale up AI projects, a recent Gartner report warns that over 40 per cent of projects involving "agentic" AI (systems designed to make decisions and act autonomously) will be cancelled by the end of 2027. The research firm cites high development costs, unclear return on investment, and technological immaturity as key reasons. It also raised a growing trend of "agent washing," where companies label traditional tools as intelligent agents without delivering on the promises. However, Gartner reports that agentic AI adoption is growing steadily, forecasting that by 2028, it will drive 15 per cent of daily business decisions and power a third of enterprise applications.
Despite the rising valuations and adoption of AI in everyday life, public perception remains cautious, sharply contrasting with expert views. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that while 47 per cent of AI researchers feel more excited than concerned about AI's growing role in daily life, 51 per cent of US adults feel the opposite. Both groups are worried about misinformation, deepfakes, and privacy issues, but they disagree on things like losing jobs and being socially isolated. Join our WhatsApp Channel