Google's ultra-private CEO Sundar Pichai is showing me around Googleplex, its California headquarters. A walkway runs along the length of it, passing by a giant dinosaur skeleton, a beach volleyball pitch, and dozens of Googlers lunching under the hazy November sun.
But it's a laboratory, hidden away at the back of the campus behind some trees, that he is most excited to show me. This is where the invention that Google believes is its secret weapon is being developed.
Known as a Tensor Processing Unit (or TPU), it looks like an unassuming little chip but, says Mr. Pichai, it will one day power every AI query that goes through Google. This makes it potentially one of the most important objects in the world economy right now.
AI is the most profound technology humanity [has ever worked] on, he insists. It has potential for extraordinary benefits - we will have to work through societal disruptions.
Yet, the confusing question lingering over the AI hype is whether it is a bubble at risk of bursting - as, if so, it may well be a spectacular burst akin to the dot-com crash at the start of the century, with consequences for us all.
The Bank of England has warned of a sudden correction in global financial markets, indicating market valuations appear stretched for tech AI firms. Meanwhile, OpenAI's Sam Altman also speculated that there are many parts of AI that I think are kind of bubbly right now.
Despite acknowledging potential risks, Google continues to invest over $90 billion annually in AI, a three-fold increase over four years. In cash terms, the AI surge - of which Google is just one part - is the biggest market boom the world has seen.
Tech giants collectively represent a staggering $15 trillion in market value, but this increase in value comes with a significant risk: the great dependence of U.S. stock market growth on the performance of a handful of tech leaders. Companies like Alphabet, Apple, Meta, and Nvidia now form a substantial portion of the overall market value, leading to market fragility.
Pichai acknowledges the exciting progress in AI but concedes the potential for an overshoot during these investment cycles. He emphasizes that navigating this landscape requires both rational investment and recognition of irrational exuberance.
Google's TPU lab is a tessellation of technology with a great noise from cooling systems required for their chips, designed to perform billions of calculations. And while the race for high-performance chips is paramount in the tech space, concerns about energy sustainability linger as data centers are projected to consume enormous amounts of electricity.
In conclusion, even amid advancements and excitement, the potential for stumbling exists in the AI landscape. The enthusiasm for innovation is palpable, but careful navigation of the accompanying risks is vital as we stand on the brink of a new technological era.
