Insight certainty 4/5 debate potential 4/5

George: 75% AI Gross Margins Mean Customers Are Not Actually Using It

David George · How a16z Growth Invests · Invest Like The Best · Dec 2, 2025 · at 58:00

David George, GP at a16z Growth, discusses how venture capitalists evaluate gross margins in AI startups.

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“Now it's like a badge of honor to have low gross margins because we're like, oh, at least people are using your AI products. You know, if we see, like we get these pitches and they're like, I have an AI thing and I got 75% gross margins. I'm like, well, no one's using the AI stuff then. Like that's doesn't really seem like an AI product to me.”

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