Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon says Wall Street has entered a phase where investor optimism is overpowering caution, as some of the world's most valuable artificial intelligence companies prepare for what could become one of the largest fundraising cycles in financial market history.
Speaking with CNBC's Leslie Picker, Solomon argued that capital markets remain capable of absorbing enormous equity offerings despite growing concerns that a flood of AI-related fundraising could test investor appetite. His comments come as companies including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Elon Musk-linked ventures continue attracting unprecedented levels of capital to fund data centers, semiconductor infrastructure, and advanced computing systems.
"There's plenty of liquidity in the system if the world continues to remain as optimistic," Solomon said. "We are definitely in a moment where there's more greed than there is fear."
The remarks highlight the increasingly bullish sentiment surrounding artificial intelligence, which has become the dominant investment theme across global markets. Investors have poured billions into AI developers, cloud infrastructure providers, chipmakers, and energy companies positioned to benefit from surging demand for computational power.
For investment banks such as Goldman Sachs, the trend has opened a pipeline of potentially historic transactions. Several leading AI firms remain privately held but are widely expected to seek additional funding or eventual public listings that could command valuations measured in the hundreds of billions-or even trillions-of dollars.
Solomon suggested concerns about market capacity may be overstated. Rather than seeing signs of exhaustion, he pointed to recent fundraising activity as evidence that investors remain eager to finance large-scale AI expansion projects.
One example cited by the Goldman Sachs chief was Alphabet's effort to secure capital for artificial intelligence infrastructure. According to Solomon, investor reaction has been encouraging despite the enormous size of the financing.
"The stock is trading very well," Solomon said. "This is the first actual concrete data point for bringing something of this scale, and it's encouraging."
The financing requirements facing AI companies have become unlike anything previously seen in the technology sector. Building advanced AI systems requires massive spending on specialized chips, data centers, networking equipment, electricity generation, and cloud infrastructure.
Industry analysts estimate that hundreds of billions of dollars could be deployed globally over the next several years as technology companies race to secure computing capacity and maintain competitiveness in generative AI.
Solomon argued that companies should take advantage of favorable market conditions while capital remains readily available.
"When capital's available, if you're capital consumptive and it's available, take the capital," Solomon said.
The Goldman Sachs CEO also described what he sees as a self-reinforcing economic cycle emerging from AI investment. As startup founders, employees, and early investors realize gains, those proceeds can flow back into the economy through taxes, venture capital investments, new business creation, and additional market activity.
That dynamic has helped support record wealth creation across financial markets and contributed to the strong demand for technology-related assets.
Still, Solomon cautioned that investor psychology can shift rapidly. Financial history is filled with examples of periods when enthusiasm eventually gave way to caution, particularly in sectors experiencing explosive growth.
"Greed can turn into fear very quickly, but that doesn't mean it will," Solomon said. "Exuberance can go on for big periods of time. ... There's a good chance that we're earlier in the cycle than later."
