Photo via CBS News

The AI bubble is leaking air, some economists say. Should investors worry?

Read the original at CBS News ↗
Cite

Cerullo, M. (2026, September 14). The AI bubble is leaking air, some economists say. Should investors worry? CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ai-bubble-stocks-investors/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

CBS News · collected 2026-09-14 · by Megan Cerullo

Quick Summary

Some Wall Street analysts suggest that an investment bubble in artificial intelligence (AI) is nearing its end. John Higgins, chief economic adviser at Capital Economics, predicts the AI bubble will burst by 2027 and forecasts a market correction next year. The firm notes that while AI's transformative potential is significant, current expectations for earnings growth appear overly optimistic compared to actual economic conditions. Meanwhile, Kenneth R. French from Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business argues that it may be premature to conclude the bubble will burst soon, suggesting instead that AI’s impact might exceed current expectations.
Written by AI on 2026-09-14, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Some Wall Street economists are warning that a bubble is forming around AI investments, mirroring concerns during the dot-com era. John Higgins from Capital Economics suggests the AI bubble could burst by 2027, with a potential stock market correction in the S&P 500 index next year. James Reilly, another Capital Economics expert, notes that leading AI firms' earnings growth projections far exceed U.S. economic growth rates, indicating overvaluation. Despite this, Goldman Sachs predicts global spending on AI-related projects will reach $1 trillion in 2026, with $581 billion expected to be spent in the U.S., fueling current stock market gains.

Written for “AI Bubble Concerns” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 AI Bubble Concerns
Technology · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 21% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
New York Post
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 4 of 33 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of AI's impact on Wall Street and the economy over time, not a single specific incident.”
ABC News (US)
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 2 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of AI concerns and market trends, not a single specific incident.”
The Guardian
Hedges 10 of 32 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A reports on a specific incident of AI stocks sliding due to tech bosses calling for a slowdown, while Article B discusses broader economic analysis about an AI stock market bubble potentially deflating. The articles cover related topics but describe different incidents.”
The Intercept
⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 8 of 66 claims Outlet record 97/100
“The articles discuss different perspectives on AI but describe distinct events and viewpoints from economists and tech CEOs.”
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
“Article A discusses economists' concerns about an AI bubble bursting, while Article B reports on a tech stock selloff triggered by calls for slowing down AI development.”
Fox News
⚖️ Leans right Hedges 7 of 29 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles discuss different perspectives on AI concerns; one focuses on a potential economic bubble bursting, while the other compares current AI fears to Y2K. They do not describe the same specific incident.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 3 of 36 claims Outlet record 61/100
“Article A discusses economists' concerns about an AI stock bubble, while Article B reports on actual declines in tech stocks due to industry leaders warning of a slowdown. These are different events, though related.”
BBC News
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 4 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of AI concerns; one focuses on economic bubbles and market predictions, while the other addresses ethical concerns about AI development.”
Noahpinion
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 7 of 144 claims
“The articles discuss AI trends but describe different perspectives and contexts, not a single specific incident.”
NBC News
Hedges 2 of 55 claims Outlet record 60/100
“The articles discuss related market reactions to concerns about AI but describe different aspects of the situation — one focuses on immediate stock declines after CEO warnings, while the other discusses broader economic analysis and forecasts for next year.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
21%
4 of 19 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
CBS News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Technology
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-14 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

CBS News · 4151 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Megan Cerullo
28 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Advances in artificial intelligence are making it a cinch to create so-called , videos and audio recordings, raising concerns that bad actors could bombard people with hyper-realistic scams and spread disinformation.
🔮 Wendy Mayo knows firsthand how expensive and time-consuming caring for an aging parent can be.
🔮 "There's a world of difference between user-authorized agents (Muse, Instinct, Grokbot, etc.) and true unauthorized/rogue agents that could constitute cyberattacks," he said.
🔮 Assuming a family spends $24,000 annually on childcare, it would need to earn roughly $343,000 to remain below the 7% threshold.
🔮 Holiday retail sales this year are expected to top $1 trillion for the first time, according to a forecast from the National Retail Federation.
2026-10-20 · speculative framing · Amazon to hire 300,000 workers for seasonal jobs this year
🔮 Walmart is betting that low prices and discounts will draw cash-strapped Americans into its stores.
🔮 Such certificates or licenses demonstrate "specific skills that will put you ahead of other candidates," she told CBS News.
🔮 Financial security among U.S. employees dropped from 46% to 36% in 2026, its lowest level in seven years, according to a survey of 6,000 U.S. employees by benefits company Willis Towers Watson (WTW).
🔮 AI companies are facing a dilemma between promoting the technology's capabilities as more experts are about the dangers the tech could pose to society.
🔮 But his campaign promises raised hopes that he would lower consumer prices.
Also by Megan Cerullo
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 28 articles by Megan Cerullo →

Topics

CBS News Capital Economics EY-Parthenon Goldman Sachs U.S.

Subjects

CBS News ORG · 3× Capital Economics ORG · 3× U.S. GPE · 3× Dartmouth College's ORG · 1× EY-Parthenon ORG · 1× Goldman Sachs ORG · 1× Greg Daco PERSON · 1× James Reilly PERSON · 1× John Higgins PERSON · 1× Kenneth R. French PERSON · 1×

Narrative

"If you look at the rate at which leading AI firms' earnings are expected to grow, versus how fast the U.S. economy has been growing, by many measures they look really stretched — as in this is the dot-com bubble all over again," Capital Economics senior markets economist James Reilly told CBS News.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-14
🔮 The investment advisory firm's "best guess" is that the AI bubble will begin to burst in 2027.

Claims (19 extracted, 4 hedged)

The that has propelled U.S. stocks to record highs is starting to deflate, according to some Wall Street analysts. uncertain
propelled → propel → analysts
"There are plenty of signs that we are now in the late stages of a bubble in AI," John Higgins, chief economic adviser for financial markets at Capital Economics, said in a report on Monday. asserted
Higgins → say → Monday
The investment advisory firm's "best guess" is that the AI bubble will begin to burst in 2027. asserted
bubble → begin → 2027
Capital Economics also forecasts a correction, or when stocks fall at least 20% from their most recent high, in the S&P 500 stock index next year. asserted
stocks → forecast → index
"If you look at the rate at which leading AI firms' earnings are expected to grow, versus how fast the U.S. economy has been growing, by many measures they look really stretched — as in this is the dot-com bubble all over again," Capital Economics senior markets economist James Reilly told CBS News. asserted
Reilly → look → News
"And while we believe AI will be transformative and produce profits, we don't think they'll be as high as analysts are expecting." In 2026, global capital expenditures on AI-related projects are projected to hit $1 trillion, including $581 billion in the U.S., according to Goldman Sachs. uncertain
expenditures → believe → Sachs
That boom has fueled an epic run for stocks over the last two years, with investors hopping on the bandwagon in anticipation of robust future profits from companies leading the way in AI. asserted
investors → fuel → AI
The trouble with bubbles Economists caution that it is difficult to identify investment bubbles, or periods of speculative excess, let alone predict when one will pop. asserted
one → caution → excess
"We have to be very careful with the bubble terminology, specifically, because every type of technological revolution tends to have a great dose of investment in the first phase," EY-Parthenon chief economist Greg Daco told CBS News. asserted
Daco → have → News
There is often exuberance because a new technology is very attractive and promises to revolutionize the way we do things." asserted
we → be → things
Kenneth R. French, an investment strategist at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business, said investors commonly pile into hot tech stocks long before a technology's full economic impact becomes clear. asserted
impact → say → stocks
He is less convinced that the AI boom is at risk of losing steam anytime soon. asserted
boom → lose → steam
"People get optimistic, and it's conceivable that five years from now, we'll be looking back and saying people were pessimistic about AI, and that it was more important than we expected," he told CBS News. asserted
he → get → News
"It's already having a huge impact on earnings, so it could really be that we have underestimated AI's positive impact. uncertain
we → have → impact
" "We don't have enough information to judge if these prices are right or wrong, too high or too low," French added. asserted
French → have → information
More certain is that the public narrative around AI is shifting amid a slew of warnings from AI researchers and corporate leaders about the threat . asserted
shifting → shift → threat
Those concerns, along with calls from leading industry figures for a slowdown in AI development, could cast a pall over tech stocks. uncertain
concerns → lead → stocks
Yet concerns about the lack of guardrails around AI are distinct from uncertainty over the technology's potential to drive corporate profits, Daco noted. asserted
Daco → drive → profits
It's more fear of not having the right guardrails to control tech and avoid excesses of the tech itself — not about investments and returns." asserted
It → have → investments
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support