The Great AI Pop: What Will We Call the First AI Bust?

The Leading Candidates for an AI Bust

Below are the names that are most likely to become the future shorthand for the collapse of the 2020s AI boom. These are the names that match the psychology, economics, and symbolism of this moment.

The Primary Contenders

The Great AI Pop
This is the most likely winner. It is short, simple, and clearly mirrors historical naming conventions, such as The Great Recession. It works across all media formats and accommodates both gentle and severe corrections.

The First AI Bust
This name acknowledges that AI is not going away. It implies this is only the first cycle in a long century of AI evolution. Economists and historians may prefer this term.

The AI Money Glitch
This name hits the exact emotional tone of a financial system behaving like a buggy game. It fits a world where demand was mispriced, capex was overbuilt, and ROI never matched the slide decks.

Names Tied to Hardware and Infrastructure

GPUgeddon
This name takes over if the story becomes one of GPU oversupply, depreciation shocks, or cheaper competitors undercutting the hardware economics. It is a media-friendly name with instant meme value.

AIgeddon
A more dramatic, all-encompassing label if the crash ripples beyond tech into the wider economy.

The AI Avalanche
This is the name if the collapse happens fast. It implies a chain reaction. It fits a scenario like the one triggered by Pichai’s warning where indexes across continents fall within hours of each other. If speed becomes the defining characteristic, this name wins.

Names Tied to Products, Hype, and Failed Promises

The Great Wrapper Extinction
This name becomes dominant if hundreds of thin GPT-based tool companies vanish overnight. It frames the crash as a cleanup of shallow products.

The First Agent Mass Extinction
This name applies if enterprise agent deployments prove unreliable, unsafe, or unscalable. If companies shut down their agent teams, this name will be everywhere.

Names Tied to Broader Historical Memory

The 2nd AI Winter
This term becomes the headline if the downturn triggers:

This name is powerful because it frames the crash as a repeat of an earlier era. It stings precisely because this time, people believed AI was finally unstoppable.