AI valuations are verging on the unhinged (Unless ASI is just around the corner)(www.economist.com)
6 pointsby miles6 months ago3 comments
  • ecb_penguin6 months ago
    We've had unhinged evaluations for a decade. We hit peak absurdity with Yo (https://techcrunch.com/2014/07/18/yo-raises-1-5m-in-funding-...)

    It was a scam app where you send "yo" to your friends. Then blockchain scams, now AI hype.

    During COVID, you could interact with a dozen "unicorn" companies that all were unprofitable.

    You can view YC demo days to see product and revenue mean absolutely nothing.

    Imagine 100 years ago trying to get a business loan by saying "I have no customers and no revenue, but I'm worth billions!"

    • Dell34206 months ago
      I agree with this, and as we see the bubble keep growing, and the risk getting higher, default is everywhere.

      We can see in South East asia it doesn't end well, KoinWorks/Lunaria, eFishery, Investree (even the founder can make another scam in Middle East), Crowdee, Akseleran, etc...

      They called Unicorn, where in west we see Klarna, Afterpay, etc..

      it's taking money, never generate right revenue, scamming million of people hard earning salary, just for VC doing their bubble pump and burst..

      • ecb_penguin6 months ago
        I'm here for the scam! I get paid absurd amounts of money at an unprofitable YC startup. It's fine, though, because our founders are scamming even more money.

        It's all a ponzi scheme where we pass investment dollars to the next bag holder (series C!). It doesn't really matter what you do. If you can get the bag by scamming some dumb investor about AI, that's true trickle down economics.

  • physix6 months ago
    I vote for "unhinged" as Word Of The Year.

    Interesting that The Economist thinks they are "verging on the unhinged", and not yet actually unhinged. Is that a buy signal? :-)

  • physix6 months ago
    What's ASI?
    • ethan_smith6 months ago
      ASI stands for Artificial Superintelligence - an AI system that surpasses human intelligence across virtually all economically valuable domains.