logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2024
33m 59s

AI is a money pit — here’s why investors...

The Verge
About this episode

AI investment is massive, but AI profits are not — and yet investors seem confident massive AI fundraising will one day translate into sizable AI profits. To break it down, Verge Deputy Editor Alex Heath guest hosts this episode of Decoder featuring Menlo Ventures partner Tim Tully and AirStreet Capital founder Nathan Benaich. 


Links: 

  • 2024: The State of Generative AI in the Enterprise | Menlo Ventures
  • State of AI Report | Nathan Benaich
  • AI Index Report 2024 | Stanford HAL
  • How companies are spending on AI right now | Tech Brew
  • OpenAI Is growing fast and burning through piles of money | NYT
  • Amazon to invest another $4 billion in OpenAI rival Anthropic | The Verge
  • Agents are the future AI companies promise — and desperately need | The Verge
  • Anthropic’s latest AI update can use a computer on its own | The Verge
  • OpenAI reportedly plans to launch an AI agent early next year | The Verge
  • Is AI hitting a wall? | Command Line



Credits:

Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Up next
Oct 6
Rivian CEO on CarPlay, Lidar, and affordable EVs
I’m Joanna Stern, the senior personal tech columnist at The Wall Street Journal, and this is my final Decoder episode filling in for Nilay while he’s out on parental leave. My guest today: Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe. This is RJ’s third time on the show, and it felt like the perfect f ... Show More
50m 38s
Oct 2
The good, the bad, and the future of AI agents
This is Hayden Field, senior AI reporter at The Verge and your Thursday episode guest host. Today, I’m talking with David Hershey, who leads the applied AI team at Anthropic. I wanted to have David on because earlier this week, Anthropic released a brand-new AI model called Claud ... Show More
46m 35s
Sep 29
Ford CEO Jim Farley on China, tariffs, and the quest for a $30,000 EV
This is Joanna Stern, senior personal technology columnist at The Wall Street Journal. I’m the last Monday guest host filling in for Nilay here on Decoder while he’s out on parental leave with his adorable new son, and I’m very excited to be talking today to Ford CEO Jim Farley. ... Show More
1h 3m
Recommended Episodes
Sep 3
AI Insiders Reveal Elon Musk's Master Plan to Win AI w/ Dave Blundin & Alex Wissner-Gross | EP #192
Get access to metatrends 10+ years before anyone else - https://qr.diamandis.com/metatrends Dave Blundin is the founder & GP of Link Ventures Dr. Alexander Wissner-Gross is a computer scientist and founder of Reified, focused on AI and complex systems. – My companies: Reverse the ... Show More
1h 50m
Sep 23
How Microsoft is Fixing the Biggest AI Agent Problem
Want the guide to create AI Agents? get it here: https://clickhubspot.com/fhc Episode 77: Are we nearing a future where AI agents can autonomously tackle our biggest challenges—while remaining efficient, safe, and truly aligned with human goals? Matt Wolfe (https://x.com/mreflow) ... Show More
30m 8s
Apr 2025
Nvidia’s AI Chief: “AI Agents Will Solve the World’s Biggest Problems”
Episode 53: What role will AI agents play in addressing global challenges? Join Matt Wolfe (https://x.com/mreflow) Amanda Saunders (https://x.com/amandamsaunders), Director of Enterprise Generative AI Product Marketing at Nvidia, then Bob Pette (https://x.com/RobertPette) Vice Pr ... Show More
46m 1s
Sep 2024
Human Data is Key to AI: Alex Wang from Scale AI
What if the key to unlocking AI's full potential lies not just in algorithms or compute, but in data? In this episode, a16z General Partner David George sits down with Alex Wang, founder and CEO of Scale AI, to discuss the crucial role of "frontier data" in advancing artificial i ... Show More
30m 56s
Sep 30
Dylan Patel - Inside the Trillion-Dollar AI Buildout - [Invest Like the Best, EP.442]
My guest today is Dylan Patel. Dylan is the founder and CEO of SemiAnalysis. At SemiAnalysis Dylan tracks the semiconductor supply chain and AI infrastructure buildout with unmatched granularity—literally watching data centers get built through satellite imagery and mapping hundr ... Show More
1h 58m
Mar 2025
#217 Josh Wolfe: Human Advantage in the World of AI
While Silicon Valley chases unicorns, Josh Wolfe hunts for something far more elusive: scientific breakthroughs that could change civilization. As co-founder and managing partner of Lux Capital, he's looking for the kind of science that turns impossible into inevitable. Josh does ... Show More
2h 2m
Oct 5
How Nebius is Becoming the AWS of AI (ft. Marc Boroditsky)
Nebius is one of the fastest-growing players in the AI infrastructure race. In this episode, Chief Revenue Officer Marc Boroditsky explains how Nebius is supplying compute power to giants like Microsoft, building next-gen data centers, and navigating the gold rush for Nvidia chip ... Show More
30m 5s
Apr 2023
Inside the AI Gold Rush
Silicon Valley needs a new thing and AI is that new thing: investors are supposed to pour 43 billion dollars into AI this year. But will individual startups cash in on the boom, or will the real winners of AI be the same handful of big, established companies? Featuring: Renate Ny ... Show More
47m 42s
Feb 2025
Making money from AI: Searching for a ‘killer app’
Is generative AI over-valued? At the heart of the generative AI boom has been the premise that a ‘killer app’ for AI will make investors a return on their capital. But it’s unclear how those use cases will actually make money for businesses that deploy them. Plus - is the problem ... Show More
24m 25s
Feb 2024
The AI Advantage: Redrawing the Map of Business Success
What makes harnessing the power of AI in the near term all but an imperative for executives? How is the disruption artificial intelligence is bringing about different from the digital transformation we've seen impact so many industries in the last several decades? This episode of ... Show More
32m 55s