AI vs. Dotcom: Why Today’s Tech Surge Is Built on Real Earnings, Not Hype

In AI versus the Dotcom Bubble (Oct 2025), Janus Henderson’s Alison Porter outlines eight structural reasons why the current AI cycle differs from the speculative excess of the late 1990s.

• Unlike the dotcom era, today’s AI leaders have strong cash flow and earnings, with far fewer unprofitable tech firms and much tighter financial regulation.

• AI investment is broad and infrastructure-based, spanning chips, data centres, cloud platforms and energy—backed by long-term demand and hyperscaler balance sheets.

• While risks exist (vendor financing, funding concentration), valuations are supported by profit growth rather than pure multiple expansion, and adoption is enterprise-driven, not consumer hype-driven.

Could volatility still hit AI markets? Yes—but a bubble-style collapse looks unlikely given deeper fundamentals. Explore the full report for the 8 structural differences behind this AI cycle.