November 2025: AI boom: Successful race for the future – or collective exaggeration?

The main driver of this boom is artificial intelligence (AI): AI is considered a key technology of the future that will radically change work processes, business models, and competitive advantages. But the current momentum is also reminiscent of the dot-com bubble at the turn of the millennium, when exaggerated expectations and bad investments ultimately triggered a sharp slump. 

The central question is therefore: Are the enormous investments in AI data centers and infrastructure sustainable and successful – or is an “AI bubble” driven by over-optimism forming? 

One possible answer: Perhaps it is a case of “rational exaggeration.” Every player is planning high investments so as not to lose out on the future AI market. Overall, however, this can lead to exaggerations and misallocations – with reduced profit opportunities and high write-offs in the long term.

The outcome of the AI race remains open – but another risk is steadily growing: the concentration of digital power, which the Cognitive Finance Institute has been warning about for some time. Large tech companies already control key digital infrastructures. Extending this dominance to the field of AI would have massive consequences – including for politics and society.

Our reading tip for anyone interested in future trends in digitalization: „Digitale Machtkonzentration: Zunehmende Dominanz und drohende Risiken einer neuen Tech-Oligarchie“ – an extremely relevant analysis by the FERI Cognitive Finance Institute.

It can be downloaded in German from the download area on this page.