In February 2020, Kevin Mayer, head of Disney's streaming division, was in line for CEO succession. But Mayer, seen here on Sept. 29, 2022, and his teammates were stunned when Iger announced that Bob Chapek would replace Iger effective immediately.
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Kevin Mayer, former CEO of TikTok and co-CEO of Candle Media, says hype around AI has peaked, with the company's valuations looking “astronomical.”
Speaking to CNBC's Karen Tso at the VivaTech conference in Paris on Friday, he said there is fundamental value in AI, as seen in previous innovations like the metaverse and Blockchain — but warned of a coming “stabilization” of valuations.
“AI offers capabilities that have not yet been seen and are extremely valuable,” Mayer said. “But the hype cycle has been exciting.”
“I think we're going to see the peak of that hype within AI, valuations, and everyone talking about how it's disrupting every corner of our economic world and our personal lives.”
Since OpenAI's ChatGPT was first released to the world in November 2022, regulators and technology leaders have become increasingly concerned about the risks surrounding advanced AI systems. At the same time, the space has generated buzz among investors and has pushed valuations up significantly in some cases. Companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Cohere, and Mistral have raised billions of dollars from venture capitalists — along with interest and investment from big tech companies, like Microsoft And Amazon.
Some prominent voices have supported this technology and increased interest in it. Among them is JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who told CNBC in February that AI is not just a passing fad and is bigger than just big language models like the ones behind ChatGPT. He also compared the current moment favorably to the technology bubble that emerged at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
But Mayer told CNBC on Friday that it was “actually greatly exaggerated.”
“A lot of companies[are]bringing in a lot of capital at very astronomical valuations. So there will be a stabilization. There will be a realization of the benefits of AI in many industries, but I think the hype is absolutely at a fever pitch right now.”
CNBC's Jesse Pound and Arjun Kharpal contributed to this story.
