Billionaire Investor Doerr Calls AI ‘Underhyped’

BreakingBusinessBillionaire Investor Doerr Calls AI ‘Underhyped’ByAlicia Park,Reporter. I cover markets and tech.Follow AuthorMay 25, 2026, 04:50pm EDTToplineVenture capitalist John Doerr, whose early checks into Amazon and Google helped underwrite the modern internet, called artificial intelligence the "biggest tsunami" of innovation he's ever tracked in his more than four decades of investing and has actually been underhyped—joining a growing group of tech power players making maximalist claims about where the technology is headed. Venture capitalist John Doerr at Renmatix's planned new headquarters and research center on September 27, 2011, in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)AP2011Key FactsDoerr, 74, told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Monday the latest AI wave is the "biggest thing ever. Since everything," arguing the public still does not grasp how it will reshape education, employment, healthcare and "life as we know it." He framed AI as the fourth major "tsunami" in a roughly 13-year cycle he traces back to the 1980 PC and microchip revolution, followed by the internet wave and then the iPhone and cloud computing era.Doerr cited adoption data to support the case, telling the Journal that "just three years after ChatGPT was launched, 50% of Americans say they use generative AI"—a figure consistent with an April 2026 Ipsos survey finding half of Americans had used an AI service in the past week.He said his personal investing, now run through his family office after he stepped down as venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins’ chairman, is focused on entrepreneurs using AI to tackle the climate transition and transform healthcare.On top of early bets in Google and Amazon, Doerr is known for his investments in companies including Twitter, DoorDash, Slack and Intuit. if (!window.cnxel) { window.cnxel = {}; window.cnxel.cmd = []; var iframe = document.createElement(...