Former Cisco CEO John Chambers Warns AI Market Surge Mirrors Dot-Com Bubble ... - Benzinga

Former Cisco CEO John Chambers, who led the company through the dot-com boom and bust, warns that today's AI surge shows troubling similarities to the late 1990s bubble that wiped out 80% of Cisco's value.

Chambers, now 76 and working as a venture capitalist, believes AI is developing at unprecedented speed—five times faster than the internet era—with startups creating products in weeks rather than years. He predicts significant workforce disruption, warning that jobs will be "destroyed faster than we can replace them" and that half of Fortune 500 companies could disappear as businesses struggle to adapt to AI-driven 12-month cycles instead of traditional five-year planning.

• AI development cycles have accelerated dramatically, with products launching in quarters rather than years
• Goldman Sachs estimates AI could replace 6-7% of U.S. jobs over the next decade, with some forecasts suggesting millions of positions could vanish within four years
• Market opinions remain divided, with some tech leaders like Palantir's CTO arguing AI boosts productivity rather than eliminating jobs
• Recent labor statistics show 911,000 jobs revised downward, with economists citing AI-driven automation as a contributing factor