Artificial intelligence has fired the stock market to record highs this year, with companies eager to tout their AI prowess and investor darlings like AI chipmaker Nvidia soaring on expectations of runaway growth.

But a tinge of fear is starting to shadow that exuberance as investors worry the AI boom could go bust.

The startling run-up in AI-related stocks is prompting comparisons to the dot-com era of the late 1990s, when many internet companies saw their stock prices skyrocket despite suffering vast financial losses. When that bubble burst in the early 2000s, it took down former high-fliers like Pets.com , torched investor portfolios and triggered a recession.

Bubbles occur when stocks surge on inflated growth expectations that ultimately prove to be disconnected from a comp

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