AI companies

10 statements across 10 episodes · 0 bullish · 5 bearish · 5 people on the record · first statement Oct 6, 2023 by Sam Lessin · across every show →

Everything said about AI companies, oldest first

Oct 6, 2023 negative
Opinion
Sam Lessin: AI startups build hardware because their software lacks defensibility
“It's all the AI companies who realize that they have no defensibility, so their solution is to create a hardware product to wrap their AI product.”
Sam Lessin Oct 6, 2023 ▶ 3:44 #17: How to Save Your Startup, Twitter/X, Threads (and Swift’s Stunt Romance) · More or Less Podcast
Mar 22, 2024 bearish
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Lessin: AI startups face a 99.9% failure rate
“It's just like 99.9% death.”
Sam Lessin Mar 22, 2024 ▶ 21:40 #39: How (Not?) to Exit Your AI Company, Analyzing the New Google-Apple Tie Up · More or Less Podcast
Jun 21, 2024 neutral
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Gil: 99% of AI Companies Will Fail, But 1% Will Be Huge
“And I think it's clear that 90, whatever, 99% of AI companies are not going to work out, but the one percent that will could be quite large.”
Elad Gil Jun 21, 2024 ▶ 3:08 #52: Elad Gil on What to Build in AI (Part II) · More or Less Podcast
Dec 6, 2024 negative
Assertion Supported
Lessin: Some leading AI companies are losing $5 billion annually
“Some of these things are losing five billion dollars a year.”
Jessica Lessin Dec 6, 2024 ▶ 45:25 #76: In a World with 99.99% Accurate AI… (feat. Aaron Levie) · More or Less Podcast
Feb 7, 2025
Assertion Contradicted
Brit Morin: AI companies are spending $332 million on Super Bowl ads
“Guys, three hundred and thirty-two million dollars from AI companies alone.”
Brit Morin Feb 7, 2025 ▶ 1:07:26 #85: The $250M Meme Coin Experiment · More or Less Podcast
Jul 4, 2025 bearish
Opinion
Sam Lessin wants a "Moneyball" recruiting strategy for AI startup teams
“If someone, I hate AI companies from an investing standpoint, but if someone wants to pitch me on the Billy Bean, Of AI recruiting to build the team of misfit toys. I'm like really into that.”
Sam Lessin Jul 4, 2025 ▶ 32:01 #106: AI Researchers Earning More Than Cristiano Ronaldo · More or Less Podcast
Nov 28, 2025
Insight
Lessin: CapEx converts to residual infrastructure, preventing AI companies hitting zero
“These things are not going to zero because if nothing else, they're taking dollars and turning into 20 cents worth of infrastructure, right? So the zero is not a number, right?”
Sam Lessin Nov 28, 2025 ▶ 1:04:17 OpenAI vs Google vs Meta: Business Model War · More or Less Podcast
May 15, 2026
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Dave Morin: AI Labs Hire Ad Execs to Play-Act for Training Data
“The soundbite is that there are AI companies, I'm not, doesn't matter which ones, that are hiring the Former employees of ad agencies to do their job, to play act their old job, and then recording all of it in order to get the training data to learn marketing …”
Dave Morin May 15, 2026 ▶ 24:13 Google's AI-First Laptop, Meta's Spy Games, AI Monks in Middle America · More or Less Podcast
May 22, 2026 neutral
Assertion Supported
Lessin: White House briefed AI companies on pre-release model reviews
“Well, anyway, it's gotten to the point where they held a briefing for the companies yesterday. So that, that is saying, talking about plans to pre-review, which obviously would be a sea change for this administration.”
Jessica Lessin May 22, 2026 ▶ 44:08 Google I/O Just Killed SEO? Agentic Search, Universal Cart, and the New Web · More or Less Podcast
Jun 19, 2026 negative
Opinion
U.S. government should not take equity stakes in AI companies
“No, because I don't like why is like kind of the upshot, you know, it's like, it's not like I don't understand the rationale for doing it in them and not in other things, if that makes sense. There's lots of critical infrastructure.”
Sam Lessin Jun 19, 2026 ▶ 37:28 SpaceX Hit $2.5 Trillion. Now Watch What Elon Buys Next. · More or Less Podcast
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