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Rather suddenly, there’s been a vibe shift around artificial intelligence, the tech that’s hypnotized Wall Street and inspired cultish devotion across Silicon Valley over the past three years.
And while it’s too soon to declare August 2025 the start of the AI winter, or the AI correction, or the AI bubble bursting, or whatever slowdown metaphor you prefer, it is undeniable that a series of industry stumbles is making investors, businesses and customers do a double-take.
Among them:
All of that has sent traders rushing to buy “disaster puts” — options that act as a kind of insurance for when the market drops — in case we’re about to relive the late-90s dot-com bust. Per Bloomberg, investors aren’t just preparing for a pullback, they’re bracing for a nosedive.
