Broadcom CEO Hock Tan and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk [AP/Reuters]
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk [AP/Reuters]

After Broadcom CEO Hock Tan compared the current AI investment frenzy to gambling in a casino, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk had a terse response: "No crying in the casino."

Speaking Monday (local time) at the DBS Asia FutureForward Conference in Singapore, Tan said many investors have no idea what they are putting their money into. "They come in with very extreme expectations and ultimately realize it's almost like being in a casino," he said.

Tan also expressed skepticism about OpenAI's annualized sales reaching $50 billion in September. "They're still losing money because they're spending so much on training," he said, adding that the figure "tells you nothing at this point other than the potential to significantly grow sales with cutting-edge models."

He was equally blunt about how companies are deploying AI. "It's like when you were a kid and your parents gave you $10 worth of arcade tokens and you burned through them in 10 minutes and learned nothing," he said. "That's what's happening in companies today."

Musk left the comment "No crying in the casino" on an X post summarizing Tan's remarks.

Tan's comments came as rising bond yields and persistently high interest rates continue to weigh on global markets. Analysts warn that higher infrastructure costs — driving up data center construction and advanced chip purchases — could severely dent the profitability of AI projects that already take years to turn a profit.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who also attended the conference, echoed those concerns, saying financing remains a major challenge and that it is still unclear whether companies can generate enough returns to justify their massive AI investment outlays.

However, both CEOs remained optimistic about underlying demand for AI infrastructure. Hock Tan said demand for computing infrastructure is outpacing supply capacity and forecast that the trend could continue through 2029 and even into 2030. Lip-Bu Tan similarly predicted that the AI industry would not see any significant growth slowdown over the next two to three years.


bbo@heraldcorp.com