- - 'Can That Be Sustainable?' Says DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis As Startups With No Revenues Raise Tens Of Billions

Casey B. RennerJanuary 2, 2026 at 3:31 AM

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Money is pouring into artificial intelligence startups even when little more than a pitch deck exists.

The surge is raising questions about how companies without revenue are reaching multibillion-dollar valuations, including from Google DeepMind co-founder and CEO Demis Hassabis.

"They're raising at tens of billions of dollars in valuations just out of the gate," Hassabis said on a recent episode of "Google DeepMind: The Podcast," pointing to AI startups with limited traction as evidence that some corners of the market are likely in a bubble.

"It's sort of interesting to see, can that be sustainable? My guess is, probably not, at least not in general."

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Early-Stage Valuations

Hassabis told podcast host Hannah Fry that some seed-stage startups "basically haven't even got going yet," while they secure massive funding rounds. He drew a distinction between those funding rounds and capital flowing into large technology companies that are investing heavily in AI infrastructure.

He said there is "a lot of real business" underpinning valuations at established technology firms. Hassabis also repeated his view that AI is "overhyped in the short term" while "still underappreciated in the medium to long term," describing that imbalance as part of how major technologies tend to develop.

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Shifts In Attention And Investment

"When we started DeepMind, no one believed in it," Hassabis said. "Fast forward 10, 15 years, and now, obviously, it seems to be the only thing people talk about in business." He said the shift reflects how dramatically sentiment around artificial intelligence has changed.

That shift, he said, can push valuations higher in a short period. "It's almost an overreaction to the underreaction," Hassabis said, adding that an "overcorrection" often follows when technologies move rapidly from skepticism to intense focus.

Big Tech And AI Development

While discussing whether AI is in a bubble, Hassabis said he is not focused on labeling the market. Instead, he said his attention remains on long-term AI development at Google DeepMind, rather than short-term valuation debates.

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He told Fry that AI investment by large technology companies is supported by existing products and infrastructure, tying development to ongoing operations and research programs.

Investor And Industry Signals

Questions about AI valuations have also surfaced among investors. Oaktree Capital Management co-founder Howard Marks raised similar concerns in a recent memo, pointing to uncertainty around pricing and long-term returns in AI investments.

Industry leaders have also addressed how artificial intelligence may reshape work. "Everybody's jobs will be different," Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang said during a panel discussion at the U.S.–Saudi Investment Forum in Washington, D.C., in November. He said AI tools will become part of everyday workflows rather than fully replacing workers.

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