Silicon Valley VCs argue the AI bubble is a feature, not a bug, for funding the future

人工智能泡沫未必是件坏事？

While outsiders warn of an AI bubble, Silicon Valley VCs argue bubbles are essential to the innovation machine—only speculative frenzy can attract the capital needed to build critical infrastructure. Theory Ventures' Tomasz Tunguz and Touring Capital's Samir Kumar say the long-term payoff justifies near-term capital destruction. The article cites hard numbers: global VC hit $413B in H1 2026, already surpassing all of 2025; OpenAI generates $2B/month, Anthropic nearly $4B/month; Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft reported $170B in combined Q2 capex, up 72% YoY. The historical parallel is the dot-com bubble, whose overbuilt fiber networks later enabled companies like Facebook. The post does not predict when the bubble might pop but lists possible triggers: geopolitical conflict, competition from cheaper open-source models, public backlash against data centers, and security incidents like OpenAI's reported hack of a partner company.

Why it matters: NYT industry piece with concrete numbers and on-record VC quotes, not pure opinion. Hits all three HKR axes, but it's analysis rather than hard news — lands in the 72-77 featured threshold band per policy. Not scored higher because it's a viewpoint roundup, not a new model, pr...