TURIN, Italy — Artificial intelligence is currently in an “industrial bubble” but the technology is “real” and will bring big benefits to society, Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos said on Friday.

The term bubble usually refers to a period of inflated stock prices or valuations of companies that have disconnected from the fundamentals of a business. One of the most famous bubbles that burst was the 2000 dotcom crash where the value of internet companies plummeted.

Exor CEO John Elkann asked Bezos on stage at Italian Tech Week in Turin, Italy whether there were signs that the current AI industry is in bubble.

“This is a kind of industrial bubble,” the Amazon founder said.

Bezos laid out some of the key characteristics of bubbles, noting that when they happen, stock prices are “disconnected from the fundamentals” of a business.

“The second thing that happens is that people get very excited like they are today about artificial intelligence,” Bezos added.

During bubbles, every experiment or idea gets funded, he told the audience.

“The good ideas and the bad ideas. And investors have a hard time in the middle of this excitement, distinguishing between the good ideas and the bad ideas. And that’s also probably happening today,” Bezos said.

“But that doesn’t mean anything that is happening isn’t real. AI is real, and it is going to change every industry.”

This is a breaking news story. Please refresh for updates.