Ken Griffin Compares AI Chips to Airline Seats, Says Glut Could Send Pricing Into Freefall

Citadel CEO Ken Griffin said at Citadel’s annual Future of Global Markets Conference in New York that an oversupply of AI chips could drive prices into freefall, comparing graphics processing units, or GPUs, to airline seats: both have low marginal running costs, and unsold capacity can still earn money at cheap prices, but fares collapse once capacity exceeds demand. He pointed to the telecom build-out around 2000, when excess fiber capacity pushed communication prices down, and said AI bubbles almost certainly exist without predicting a collapse. Separately, Wall Street firm BTIG expects a prolonged chip slump extending into 2027 after the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index fell 11.4% in a week, its largest drop since April 2025.