Chapter 249 - 188: Dangerous Bubble

Chapter 249: Chapter 188: Dangerous Bubble

As she spoke, Elena’s emerald-green eyes suddenly sharpened.

"But," she said, her tone shifting to become serious, "the current valuation of the entire US AI tech sector is already too high across the board."

"Their weight in the overall index has also become abnormally high."

"More importantly," Elena’s voice lowered, yet it seemed to cut through even more sharply, "the participation rate of quantitative trading in the market has already surpassed sixty percent."

Upon hearing this figure, the expressions of several older investment banking executives on the conference screen turned grim.

They clearly understood what this number signified.

Elena continued:

"This means that if the valuations of certain AI tech companies experience drastic fluctuations..."

Her voice paused, and then, in an icy tone, she uttered a sentence that sent a shiver down everyone’s spine.

"It could easily trigger a chain reaction similar to the dot-com bubble bursting at the turn of the century."

As she finished speaking, a strange, deathly silence fell over the entire conference screen.

The dot-com bubble burst.

Those words were a living nightmare for every investor present.

In 2000, when the dot-com bubble burst, the index plummeted 78% from its peak. Countless companies went bankrupt, and innumerable investors lost everything.

And now, Elena was actually suggesting that AI tech stocks could repeat that tragedy?

Marcus looked at the screen and slowly nodded.

"That’s right. That is exactly what I mean."

His voice carried a gravity that was impossible to conceal.

"So, if AI tech stocks rally on the good news about this algorithm..."

Marcus’s gaze swept over the faces on the conference screen, a mix of shock and gravity.

"...then that would be an excellent opportunity to offload."

"Take advantage of the market sentiment before it catches up, and quickly sell your holdings to the retail investors who are still dreaming."

Fred, sitting in his office, nodded slightly.

Although Esbia’s current capital and influence didn’t grant him speaking rights in a meeting of this caliber, that didn’t stop him from listening and learning intently.

Fred had done some research on the artificial intelligence industry himself.

His perspective was basically aligned with the judgment of Marcus and Elena.

In fact, he thought the two of them were being conservative.

’If things really develop as they predict, and the AI tech stock bubble bursts, the entire market will suffer!’

Just then, Peter Harris’s voice rang out again.

This time, his tone was laced with clear dissatisfaction.

"Marcus, Elena, aren’t you two being a bit too dramatic?"

Peter’s face was flushed, clearly provoked by what had just been said.

"What bubble bursting? What chain reaction?"

"AI tech is the hot new trend right now. How could it just collapse on a whim?"

"You’re just spreading panic!"

The more Peter spoke, the more agitated he became, his voice growing louder and louder.

However, before he could finish, he was unceremoniously cut off by Arthur Wayne, who was chairing the meeting.

"That’s enough, Peter."

Arthur’s voice wasn’t loud, but it carried an air of authority.

"This is not a debate, nor is it a place for you to vent your emotions."

He paused, his tone growing even more serious.

"Before this meeting, I communicated privately with several of the attending CEOs."

"The conclusion we reached is largely consistent with Marcus and Elena’s assessment."

As he said this, Arthur’s gaze seemed to pierce through the camera and the screen, landing on the face of every participant.

"Of course, this is just our judgment, for your reference only."

"As for specific market operations, you will still have to make decisions based on your own situations."

"I hope everyone here can be responsible to their clients."

The words were polite, but everyone present understood the subtext—

Arthur and the CEOs of several major investment banks had already reached a consensus.

They believed the AI tech stock bubble had reached an extremely dangerous level.

And the release of this algorithm was likely to be the last straw that broke the camel’s back.

Hearing this, Peter Harris’s expression turned even uglier.

But he also knew that in this setting, he was in no position to challenge Arthur Wayne.

So, he could only shut his mouth resentfully, his face a mask of indignation.

Seeing that Peter had fallen silent, Arthur nodded in satisfaction.

He cleared his throat and changed the subject.

"Alright, that’s enough discussion on the rise and fall of stocks."

"This is just a short-term matter, not the main focus of today’s meeting."

He paused, his expression becoming more serious than ever before.

"The real reason I called this emergency meeting is to discuss something with a much longer-term view."

’Longer-term matters?’

Upon hearing this, Fred’s spirits immediately lifted.

He noticed that on the conference screen, several participants who had seemed somewhat nonchalant before were now sitting up straight, their expressions turning serious.

Apparently, what Arthur was about to say was the true core of this meeting.

Arthur’s gaze once again swept across the faces on the screen.

"I want everyone to seriously consider a question."

He began to speak slowly, his voice carrying an indescribable weight.

"If this algorithm truly causes the gap in large AI model technology between the Beautiful Country and Huaxia to narrow rapidly..."

"Then," Arthur asked, enunciating each word, "in what other important technological fields does the Beautiful Country still lead Huaxia?"

As soon as this question was posed, the entire conference screen once again fell into a dead silence.

Everyone was stunned.

’That’s right, in what fields does the Beautiful Country still lead Huaxia?’

The silence lasted for several seconds.

Finally, a voice spoke up tentatively.

"AI hardware?"

The speaker was a white man who looked to be in his early fifties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses.

His name was Geoffrey Brown, a senior partner at Forest Capital.

However, no sooner had he spoken than another voice immediately chimed in, refuting him bluntly:

"AI hardware? Are you sure?"

Fred followed the voice and saw that the speaker was a man around sixty years old with short, grayish-white hair.

His name was Robert Stone, CEO of the Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO).

Robert let out a cold laugh, his tone dripping with ridicule.

"Geoffrey, you can’t possibly think Huaxia is still incapable of making chips, can you?"

"In fact," Robert’s voice turned serious, "Huaxia already holds a huge market share for all non-leading-edge process chips."

"Whether it’s 28-nanometer or 14-nanometer, Huaxia’s production capacity is already sufficient to meet the demand for the vast majority of applications."