Every summer since 2023, AI gets a panic season — critics say that AI's novelty i novelty's wearing off, the models have hit a wall, ninety-five percent of projects fail.

Each time it dominates for a few months, then dissolves. This year's arrived early, kicked off by Uber burning through its entire 2026 AI budget in four months with a COO who can't prove it was worth it.

But 2026's AI bubble panic is different, and not for the reason the coverage thinks: forty-five percent of the S&P 500 is now riding on AI working out. Same pattern as every year — much higher stakes.

In this episode of In The Loop, I'm pulling apart the three fears behind this year's AI panic — the AI ROI crisis, the jobs fear, and the market concentration risk — and giving each one a straight verdict.

I walk through the Uber rollout numbers, why Sam Altman and Dario Amodei are walking back their job-apocalypse predictions, and why the market fear is the one I find hardest to dismiss. The question isn't whether the panic is right. It's what's getting clearer while everyone's distracted by it.

⏭️ Episode highlights

(01:10) – The panic that arrives every summer

(02:50) – Uber's 95/70/11 rollout numbers

(05:00) – Why ROI is a measurement problem

(07:30) – Top earners are the most scared

(09:15) – Altman and Amodei walk it back

(11:30) – Is this 1999? Circular financing explained

(13:40) – The price signal the panic keeps missing

(15:10) – What to actually take from this

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