Frontier models can raise more capital than the entire application layer built upon them. This unique financial power allows them to systematically expand and absorb the value of their ecosystem, a dynamic not seen in previous platforms like cloud computing.
While profitable on their last model, AI companies are "borrowing against the future." The cost of training their next-generation models makes them currently unprofitable. Their business model relies on perpetually raising larger rounds, a dependency that creates systemic market risk.
For a $1B training run, the subsequent inference costs will exceed $1B. A custom ASIC could save over 20% ($200M+), which is enough to fund the chip's tape-out. This shifts the hardware bottleneck from manufacturing cost to development timeline.
AI companies defy old categories. They raise growth-stage capital while pre-revenue (like venture) and serve as both foundational platforms (infrastructure) and direct-to-user products (apps). This blurring of lines demands a new, hybrid approach from investors and founders.
Investors' obsession with companies growing "from zero to 100 in a year" has led them to neglect fundamentally strong enterprise software businesses. This creates an arbitrage opportunity for those willing to back solid companies with great, albeit not exponential, growth in large markets.
The dot-com crash was fueled by massive overinvestment in infrastructure (dark fiber) with no corresponding demand. Today's AI boom is different: every dollar spent on GPUs has immediate, pent-up customer demand, making the investment cycle fundamentally more sound.
Unlike traditional software, AI model companies can convert capital directly into a better product via compute. This creates a rapid fundraising-to-growth cycle, where money produces a superior model with a small team, generating immediate demand and fueling the next, larger round.
Even a specialized task like coding involves a wide range of human-like interaction: brainstorming, searching, and more. This "AGI-completeness" means a powerful general model with a good "bedside manner" can outperform a narrowly specialized one, complicating the strategy for vertical AI apps.
Headline-grabbing, multi-million dollar offers for top AI researchers weren't isolated events. They created a ripple effect that has significantly and likely permanently inflated compensation for a wide range of tech roles, changing the hiring calculus for all companies.
Unlike prior tech waves where founders aimed to build companies, many top AI founders are singularly focused on achieving AGI. This unified "North Star" creates a unique tension between long-term research and near-term product goals, leading to unconventional founder and company dynamics.