Existential threats join bubble fears as AI mood sobers at Singapore forums
QQQ•Investors and policymakers at two Singapore conferences discussed AI’s potential risks, including loss of control and bioweapons, alongside concerns that the boom could be a bubble. Temasek’s Rohit Sipahimalani warned of risks if safety issues, regulation or weak returns undermine the AI narrative, while Ray Dalio said the bubble was close to bursting.
1. AI safety concerns
Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said loss of control over autonomous agents was a real threat and warned that state and non-state actors could use AI to build weapons. Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said bad actors could use the technology to design viruses or pathogens, calling bioterrorism an existential threat and urging guardrails and governance.
2. Bubble worries persist
Temasek chief investment officer Rohit Sipahimalani said the market could face issues if the AI narrative unwinds because of safety concerns, regulation or insufficient returns for end users as 2027 approaches. He described the AI narrative as the market’s biggest risk, while saying it currently seemed strong.
3. Dalio sees a bubble
Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio called AI a “classic bubble” and said a technology’s promise did not necessarily make it a good investment. He said higher rates had not yet negatively affected other things, but that pressure for rates to rise further was building; once higher rates began to bite, he said, the bubble would start to burst, adding, “I think we're close to that.”
