Howard Marks: “AI Skepticism Is Healthy” — Investor Sentiment Shifts Following Recent Headwinds

Howard Marks, co-chairman of Oaktree Capital Management, said growing skepticism toward AI is "very healthy" after recent setbacks and price declines in the sector, in a Bloomberg TV interview published November 2. Marks emphasized that the shift matters less for how far prices have fallen than for the erosion of the belief that AI "cannot fail," noting that when investors assume zero loss risk, that expectation gets priced into assets. He distinguished between AI's genuine technological promise—detailed in Oaktree's February 2026 memo "AI Hurtles Ahead," which argued AI is already transforming business and daily life—and the prices investors pay for exposure to it. The comments come as AI-linked assets have weakened in recent months, making sentiment a key variable for valuations across the trade. Watch for whether investor caution deepens into broader repricing of AI-exposed equities and private credits, and how Marks's peers frame risk premiums on assets long assumed to be loss-proof.