The Big Newsletter calls the AI spending boom 'an elite crime spree' as HN debates the bubble
chmaynard · hn · 2026-09-18
Ed Zitron's The Big Newsletter published a sharply critical essay, 'AI is an elite crime spree,' framing the current wave of massive AI funding and valuations as elite-level speculation propped up by an AGI narrative that can't cash out. The piece argues the gap between AI capital inflows and actual returns resembles an unaccountable crime spree rather than sound investing. The Hacker News thread picks apart the sustainability of AI business models and compares the moment to the dot-com era.
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