Baidu CEO predicts 99 percent of AI companies will fail despite market boom

Baidu's boss, Robin Li, thinks the AI industry is headed for a big market correction, like the dot-com bubble in the late '90s. During a talk at Harvard Business Review's Future of Business conference, he shared his thoughts, saying that maybe just one percent of today's AI companies will survive and create real value for people.

Lately, the AI scene's been blowing up. Nvidia's value shot up from $300 billion to $3.4 trillion in just two years. Big names like Google, Microsoft, and Apple are going all in, throwing tons of money at AI projects. Even chipmakers like AMD and Intel have reworked their server-grade offerings to handle AI-focused computing.

Li pointed out how AI has come a long way, especially regarding its inaccuracy. "I think over the past 18 months, that problem has pretty much been solved—meaning when you talk to a frontier model-based chatbot, you can basically trust the answer," Li said at the event.

Li said this AI craze is bound to bubble despite market enthusiasm. He reckons the industry needs to slim down, eliminating products that don't satisfy customers.

He's not too worried about AI wiping out jobs anytime soon, though. Li thinks it could be 10 to 30 years before we see major changes in the workplace because of AI.