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The dot-com bubble taught investors to be wary of stock-market rallies powered by a technological boom — that is, until generative artificial intelligence sent tech stocks soaring this year, the Wall Street Journal reported. Shares of Nvidia, the graphics-chip maker at the heart of the frenzy, have nearly tripled in 2023, while the Nasdaq-100 has climbed 38% and the S&P 500 has gained 16%. For some investors, the surge in Nvidia — now the fifth-largest U.S. company by market value — is difficult to chalk up to anything but speculative mania. Its weighting in the benchmark stock indexes means everyday investors are at the whims of its trajectory, whether they believe in AI’s potential or not. “There’s a huge boom in AI — some people are scrambling to get exposure at any cost, while others are sounding the alarm that this will end in tears,” said Kai Wu, founder and chief investment officer of Sparkline Capital. “Investors can benefit from innovation-led growth, but must be wary of overpaying for it.”

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler warned in a new interview that artificial intelligence (AI) will eventually lead to financial crises, The Hill reported. “This technology will be the center of future crises, future financial crises,” Gensler told The New York Times. “It has to do with this powerful set of economics around scale and networks.” Gensler predicted the future business systems in the U.S. will be reliant on two or three foundational models, which he says would make a financial crash more likely due to “herding,” which means all companies will rely on the same information. The SEC proposed a new rule last month that would require investment advisers to rid conflicts of interest in their technologies. Gensler said in a press release at the time that AI could place brokers’ or investment advisers’ interests above the investors’ interests, which is what the proposed rule would aim to curtail.

Wireless venture Ligado Networks is in talks with its major creditors about a debt restructuring that would ease the way for a commercial deal to expand its satellite offerings, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Ligado is exploring ways to restructure its stack of debt and equity securities ahead of a roughly $4 billion bond maturity in November, these people said. While Ligado is expected to win broad support for a restructuring, it is considering a bankruptcy filing to implement settlement terms if creditors don’t agree unanimously. The company set the restructuring in motion aiming to allow for commercial deals involving its satellite service with a leaner balance sheet free of imminent debt obligations. Such deals include a possible joint venture to pool spectrum licenses with telecom companies including Viasat, which Ligado recently owed at least $350 million under a 2007 agreement signed with Inmarsat, a satellite operator acquired by Viasat earlier this year. Some of Ligado’s major creditors have been developing the broad strokes of a restructuring that would maintain the existing order of payment priority among lenders and shareholders of the company, while trimming some debt by turning it into preferred equity.

The Federal Trade Commission has opened an investigation into OpenAI, the artificial intelligence start-up that makes ChatGPT, over whether the chatbot has harmed consumers through its collection of data and its publication of false information on individuals, the New York Times reported. In a 20-page letter sent to the San Francisco company this week, the agency said it was also looking into OpenAI’s security practices. The FTC asked OpenAI dozens of questions in its letter, including how the start-up trains its A.I. models and treats personal data, and said the company should provide the agency with documents and details. The FTC is examining whether OpenAI “engaged in unfair or deceptive privacy or data security practices or engaged in unfair or deceptive practices relating to risks of harm to consumers,” the letter said.

Boston-based wireless Internet service Starry plans to emerge from bankruptcy this summer with new ownership and a leadership change — but subscribers might not even notice. Under a reorganization plan approved last month by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Karen Owens in Delaware, existing shareholders will be wiped out and Starry’s lenders will own the company. For customers, however, Starry does not plan to cut back service or raise its current $50-per-month subscription rate, the company said on Tuesday. Cofounder and former COO Alex Moulle-Berteaux has replaced chief executive and cofounder Chet Kanojia. Kanojia, a serial entrepreneur who has run Starry since 2015, remains a member of the company’s board of directors.