OpenAI's ChatGPT marked its third anniversary on November 30, 2022, having initiated a significant transformation across the business and technology sectors since its initial description as "a model called ChatGPT which interacts in a conversational way." The chatbot's launch has been identified as a catalyst for a proliferation of generative artificial intelligence (AI) products and has sustained considerable user engagement, evidenced by its continued top ranking on various app platforms.
The introduction of ChatGPT has notably reshaped financial markets. Data from Bloomberg indicates that Nvidia Corporation's stock has risen by 979% since the chatbot's debut. Furthermore, the seven most valuable companies on the S&P 500—Nvidia, Microsoft, Apple, Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Broadcom—all with substantial ties to technology, have collectively driven nearly half of the S&P 500's 64% increase over the same period. This trend has resulted in a more concentrated market, with these seven companies now constituting 35% of the S&P 500's market capitalization weighting, up from approximately 20% three years prior.
Industry leaders and commentators have offered varied perspectives on the long-term implications and stability of this AI-driven surge. Karen Hao, author of "Empire of AI," stated in an interview with TechCrunch that OpenAI has become "more powerful than pretty much any nation-state in the world," suggesting it is actively "rewiring our geopolitics." Charlie Warzel of The Atlantic described the current era as "the world ChatGPT built," characterized by "precarity" and an anticipation of further developments.
Concerns about market sustainability have also emerged. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman commented in August that "Someone is going to lose a phenomenal amount of money in AI." Bret Taylor, CEO of Sierra and chair of OpenAI's board, acknowledged the presence of an "AI bubble," drawing parallels to the dot-com era of the late 1990s. Despite this, Taylor expressed optimism, predicting that "AI will transform the economy, and I think it will, like the internet, create huge amounts of economic value in the future." Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has been a notable exception in refraining from public acknowledgment of a potential bubble, according to TechCrunch reports.
