Major global investors are not alarmed by concerns of an AI bubble or excessive concentration in top tech stocks, emphasizing the fundamental strength of today’s leading public tech companies compared to the dotcom era. At CNBC’s Delivering Alpha conference, top fund managers including Philippe Laffont of Coatue Management and Bill Ford of General Atlantic expressed confidence in the sustainability of the current AI-driven market momentum. Laffont, who oversees around $70 billion in assets, highlighted a key distinction between the present AI boom and the dotcom bubble of the early 2000s. Back then, investment was fueled by speculative IPOs and unproven business models. Today, the largest tech firms—such as Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon—are making massive AI investments backed by real financial strength. Wall Street estimates these companies will collectively spend over $500 billion on AI next year. Crucially, they are doing so with strong free cash flow—approaching $1 trillion annually—and minimal debt, unlike many other firms that rely heavily on leverage. Ford, chairman and CEO of General Atlantic, which manages $118 billion, echoed this sentiment. He stressed that the public tech giants are not just driving innovation but are also the primary engines of AI progress. While General Atlantic focuses heavily on private market opportunities, Ford emphasized that understanding what companies like Google, Microsoft, and Oracle are doing is essential—even when not investing directly in them. “You can’t make good decisions without being fully aware,” he said. General Atlantic has been aggressively deploying AI investments across its 200 portfolio companies, already seeing strong returns in areas like customer service automation, software development, and digital marketing. Ford described this as just the beginning—the “front edge” of AI’s transformative potential. Despite recent volatility—such as the Nasdaq’s two-week decline and Oracle’s stock surge and pullback—investors remain bullish. Laffont acknowledged that rapid valuation increases warrant scrutiny, particularly regarding whether future expectations are already priced in. But he noted that unlike past bubbles, today’s gains are supported by tangible earnings growth. The “Mag 7” stocks are not trading at inflated P/E ratios; their valuations are backed by real revenue and profit increases. Laffont also dismissed fears of commoditization in AI compute. While the cost of compute tokens may fall, he argued that the demand for them is highly elastic. “It’s like gasoline to an engine,” he said. Even if the price per unit drops, the total value of applications—spanning software, robotics, self-driving cars, and humanoids—could grow dramatically. “P times Q can go to near infinity,” he said, underscoring long-term optimism. In sum, these top investors see the current AI wave as fundamentally different from past bubbles. The scale, financial health, and real-world impact of today’s tech leaders provide a solid foundation for continued growth, making the current market not a bubble, but a powerful, sustainable shift in the global economy.