Eric Schmidt dismisses “AI bubble” concerns, citing Anthropic’s rapid growth

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt pushed back against concerns that artificial intelligence is forming a “bubble,” arguing that the market is already finding customers willing to pay for real deployments rather than hype alone.

In remarks reported by Yahoo Finance, Schmidt said AI “is not a bubble,” pointing to Anthropic’s reported growth as evidence that buyers are adopting AI products at scale. He framed the case as a contrast between technology that is proving commercially useful and a speculative cycle that depends primarily on expectations.

Schmidt also referenced the speed of Anthropic’s expansion relative to Google’s earlier growth, saying Anthropic is growing “twice as fast as Google did” during Schmidt’s time leading the company. The comment, as presented in the report, is meant to suggest that the revenue trajectory is not behaving like a short-lived fad.

The underlying theme in Schmidt’s argument is that paying customers are a reality check. In his view, the existence of rapid, monetizable growth means the industry’s trajectory is being driven by adoption, not only by investor enthusiasm.

The bubble debate has echoed across the technology sector as major AI investments have surged. Critics have argued that some AI use cases remain immature, that costs could outpace revenue, or that companies may be spending heavily ahead of a clear monetization path.

Schmidt’s intervention lands in that broader context, highlighting a specific commercial datapoint rather than a technical one. Still, the report does not provide detailed figures in the excerpt, such as Anthropic’s latest revenue rate, growth period, or how that growth was measured.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is often at the center of these discussions because Google is both a pioneer in AI research and a major operator of large-scale AI services. While Schmidt’s comments directly reference Google’s own history as a comparison point, the report does not attribute any new policy, product, or financial action to Alphabet in response.

What remains unclear is whether the growth Schmidt cited came from specific product categories, contract terms, or a particular time window, because those details were not included in the material available here. The report also does not elaborate on any countervailing risks, such as competitive dynamics, pricing pressure, or margin impacts.