Ferrari’s chairman is bullish on AI. He’s less certain how businesses will cash in

Ferrari chairman John Elkann has shrugged off concerns about a potential artificial intelligence bubble — but he warns an AI supply and demand mismatch could pose a risk to markets.

In an exclusive interview with CNBC Friday, the billionaire industrialist and Meta Platforms board member, who has invested in technology companies through his family's holding company Exor, expressed optimism for the AI buildout in the decade ahead.

Elkann, who is also chairman of auto multinational Stellantis, said the energy and compute requirements for AI-enabled technologies remains high.

"What is less certain is what are the revenue-generating mechanisms and business models out of that technology," he said. "That's where you need to see where the mismatch can happen."

Elkann said there were different types of bubbles, ranging from those driven purely by financial speculation to those fueled by a rapid buildup of investment and infrastructure. But he said investor focus should remain squarely on the technology's direction of travel.

"I am not in the camp of the bubble believers," he said. "Again, I don't think ultimately bubbles, or bursts of bubbles, are going to be an impediment to what progress is, and how it is happening."

Speaking to CNBC's Carolin Roth on the sidelines of this year's Wave 2026 technology conference in Turin — formerly known as Italian Tech Week — Elkann said European companies can offer "incredible technical capabilities," amid the increasingly fierce tech battle between the U.S. and China.

"The opportunity set ultimately determines where investors will want to go," he observed of the prevailing investment landscape in the continent.

"The more opportunities you have, the more capital will come to those opportunities."

He highlighted Milan-headquartered conglomerate Bending Spoons — owner of Vimeo, Eventbrite and AOL, among others — as a "perfect example of how one company born in Italy can actually have global ambition, and be able to grow and compete in many different markets as they are doing."

He added: "The more of these companies we have, the more will end up having investors backing them."