Is this the beginning of the end of the AI stock market boom?

After a wobble on the tech-heavy Nasdaq, some AI market observers think a reassessment of the potential value of various businesses may be under way… The world is holding its breath as it waits to find out whether this year’s estimated $US1tn investment in artificial intelligence is resting on a castle made of sand.

Last week, the Nasdaq 100 – an index of the 100 biggest non-financial stocks on the American tech-heavy Nasdaq exchange – dropped by 5.5%, triggering the usual angst that the AI boom is about to go bust. The recent rot may have started with the failure of Firmus, an Australian datacentre company, to list on the ASX. The multi-billion dollar initial public offering was, at one stage, on track to make Firmus worth more than Telstra – even before having delivered on its promised earnings.

That proved to be a fever dream of its founders and a wake-up call to investors in Australia and around the world to reconsider the potential value of similar businesses. If this is the beginning of the end of the AI…