Mark Cuban Sounds Warning on AI Build-Out: 'Pickleball Courts' Ahead?

Billionaire Mark Cuban has warned that the current artificial intelligence (AI) build-out shares similarities with the late 1990s fiber optic boom, which ultimately led to a bust.

In the late 1990s, telecom companies spent $500 billion building out the network, but predictions of internet traffic growth outpaced reality. The industry ended up with about 10 times more capacity than needed, with around 90% of new fiber sitting 'dark' and unused for years.

Cuban believes that AI infrastructure build-out is following a similar pattern, as engineers continue to improve the efficiency of AI models. This could lead to a mismatch between the amount of hardware built and actual demand, resulting in dark data centers.

While there are some key differences between 2000 and 2026, including the fact that the AI infrastructure build-out is currently funded with massive cash flows from companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta Platforms, Cuban's warning is worth taking seriously. Innovations in AI itself could make much of the infrastructure being developed now unnecessary.