Citadel's CEO on the AI boom: 'Is it hype? Of course'

• Ken Griffin says AI hype is real, as productivity gains lag the spending boom.
• Citadel's CEO says bold AI forecasts run ahead of what the tech can deliver today.
• Griffin says AI has empowered CTOs, but generative tools still fall apart on depth tests.

Hedge fund tycoon Ken Griffin has a blunt message for anyone expecting artificial intelligence to instantly rewrite the global economy: the hype is real — and it's there to justify enormous spending.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday, the Citadel CEO said the AI boom is being fueled as much by narrative as by real productivity gains.

Griffin, who ranks as the 39th wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of about $48.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, said that doesn't mean AI isn't powerful — but expectations have run far ahead of reality.

"Is it hype? Of course," Griffin said, pointing to the extraordinary scale of investment now pouring into AI infrastructure.

Griffin said that data center spending in the US is estimated to top $500 billion this year. Bank of America previously estimated that Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Meta — who are leading the data center construction boom — will spend a combined $385 billion annually on AI infrastructure between 2025 and 2028.

"You're not going to generate this kind of spend unless you're going to make a promise you're going to profoundly change the world," Griffin said.

"How else are you going to get people to write $500 billion of checks just this year alone?" he added.

AI's job-loss warnings collide with real productivity

Griffin's skepticism came after he was asked whether he agreed with predictions from AI leaders such as Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, who has said that half of all entry-level white-collar jobs could disappear within five years.

Griffin didn't endorse that view, instead questioning whether AI systems are delivering the kind of deep productivity gains that would justify such forecasts.

Tech leaders, such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, have pointed to overheated valuations and investor overexcitement to predict a looming bubble.

Others, such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, have said AI spending reflects a fundamental shift in computing and that demand and model capabilities are still growing fast enough to justify the buildout.

What is certain for Griffin said is that AI has "re-empowered the head of technology in every business in the United States," he said.

AI's early results impress — until you look closer

Griffin was especially critical of generative AI outputs in white-collar work, saying they often look impressive at first glance but fall apart under scrutiny.

He described reviewing an AI-generated report that seemed insightful at the top but devolved into "garbage" further down.

Still, Griffin isn't dismissing AI's long-term impact. He said the technology will be transformative in areas like call centers and software development, and that massive investment in technology broadly is already benefiting the economy.