How Big Tech Got Scammed by an 'AI' 😱

Welcome to another edition of Horizon AI,

In today's edition, we're looking at the Builder AI case — what went wrong for the UK-based startup backed by Microsoft and SoftBank to blow its $1.5 billion valuation and collapse into insolvency.

Let’s jump right in!

Read Time: 4.5’ min

Here's what's new today in the Horizon AI

• Chart of the week: AI User Adoption: Years to Reach 100 Million Users 🚀

• Builder AI's $1.5B Collapse

• Free Resources

• AI tools to check out

• Video of the week

Chart of the week

AI User Adoption: Years to Reach 100 Million Users 🚀

• The pace of generative AI adoption is unlike anything we've seen before, and it continues to move rapidly.

• The graph uses ChatGPT as a foundational indicator, showing how it stands out compared to popular platforms like social media, streaming services, and more.

Source

AI News

BUILDER AI

Builder AI's $1.5B Collapse

Builder .ai was a UK startup that grabbed global attention with the seductive promise of developing apps automatically, without any human intervention. But the whole thing turned out to be a scam

Details:

• The company didn’t just exaggerate its use of AI, it completely hid the fact that over 700 human engineers in India were coding apps manually, then presenting them as AI-generated.

• But that’s not all — beyond misleading consumers, Builder. ai also faked contracts, manipulated accounting records, and inflated user numbers to lure investors.

• And it worked: Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund poured in millions, as did Microsoft, SoftBank’s DeepCore, and IFC.

• The collapse started earlier this year, when a group of creditors, led by the Israeli firm Viola Credit, seized most of the company’s cash after it was revealed that the startup had overstated its revenue projections by 300%.

Builder.ai, once valued at US$1.5 billion, formally filed for bankruptcy in the US earlier this week. It’s the largest AI company to collapse since ChatGPT's launch sparked a global investment frenzy, with many now calling it the first major AI-era scam and highlighting the risks in the rush to back promising AI startups hoping to replicate the success of companies like OpenAI.

Source

Resources

😱 ChatGPT's theory on what God is

🗣 A neuroscientist explains why it’s impossible for AI to ‘understand’ language

🔍 A closer look inside Google’s AI Mode

🔮 AI could unleash ‘deep societal upheavals’ that many elites are ignoring, Palantir CEO Alex Karp warns

👉 29 ways to make gen AI work for you

AI Tools to check out

🗣 Bland AI: AI phone agents that sound human, speak any language, and work 24/7.

👨‍💻 Cursor 1.0: AI code editor.

⚡ Thunderbit: An AI-powered Chrome Extension that automates your web tasks.

🌐 Keak: Uses AI to generate website variations and automatically run A/B tests, allowing sites to self-improve.

👀 Holly: AI powered virtual recruiter.

Video of the week

Demis Hassabis On The Future of Work in the Age of AI

In this interview, Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, discusses the potential of AGI and envisions a future of "radical abundance," where new jobs appear alongside AI tools, creating a golden era of productivity and solving global challenges through technology.

That’s a wrap!

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Gina 👩🏻‍💻