• JeeBaiChow@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    97
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    3 months ago

    Capitalism doesn’t sell performance. It sell ‘potential’ and ‘perceived gains’.

    • einlander@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      44
      ·
      3 months ago

      I sell my dates on my potential wealth and potential penis size. People need to get on the capitalism grindset.

      • seven_phone@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        14
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        3 months ago

        And women sell dates on their potential to do that thing that was discussed but then try to backtrack by pretending they thought it was a joke and didn’t even bring a banana.

  • T156@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    29
    ·
    3 months ago

    It shouldn’t be, but it is. 20 years ago, in the far-off year of 2005, a lot of tech companies more or less followed the same path, where it took decades for them to actually be profitable, if they were at all.

    YouTube ran at a deficit for something close to 15 years. AI companies are likely following this trend, and running mostly on investment money, rather than being self-sufficient.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      3 months ago

      I don’t know about now, but Amazon ran a deficit for pretty much its entire existence. Amazon is a bit different though since it was part of an R&D strategy and they could’ve stepped off the gas at almost any point and been profitable.

    • jj4211@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      3 months ago

      Tech companies were in that boat in the late 90s as well.

      The dot com bust deflated it somewhat, but somehow the industry got right back to it within a couple of years.

  • seven_phone@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    19
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    3 months ago

    So now we are actually to the point where we can ask if a corporation or more widely anything at all has any value if it makes no profit.

    There are people in the world who by luck of birth or circumstance have amassed obscene wealth and they after the fact are trying to convince everyone that profit is the only thing of value. These are the real public enemies.

  • andrew_bidlaw@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    17
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    3 months ago

    As a major investor into Open AI future, I’d gladly exchange all my non-existing stakes for a blowjob by fugly Sam Altman. It wouldn’t turn into any profits, but for some time, he’d have something in his mouth that isn’t a lie or a sketchy promo. I believe, some on Open AI board would even pay me to keep him silent.

  • vane@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    15
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    3 months ago

    That’s how every single company targeting consumer market in the web started. No profit for many years. Majority because of scale of the market. Facebook started making profit after 2012 so for 8 years they were burning money figuring out where to sell their soul to. Now the scale and risk for OpenAI is way bigger, because they have not sold their users fully or we don’t know if they sold it and for exchange for what. It would be funny if they at some point alter their privacy policy and turn out to sell people’s chats to advertising agencies. They might also go bankrupt or turned out to be a scam that hires thousands of people to answer questions.

  • katy ✨@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    3 months ago

    if you’re mad at this, don’t look at how much xai is worth.

    ai is basically just a pump and dump for rich people before the bubble bursts

    • jeffw@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      3 months ago

      It’s typical for tech companies to organize as nonprofits and then restructure because they are losing cash?

      Not sure if I’m misunderstanding you or what part you think is typical

  • Lovable Sidekick@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    5
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    3 months ago

    The history of the Internet and computers in general is full of investors willing to take seemingly insane chances on overvalued speculative ventures.

    • aesthelete@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      ·
      3 months ago

      Private equity is so pumped full of cash that they basically have nothing better to do with it.

  • Xanthrax@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    Yeah, but not for shitty companies. I’m down to invest in a mom and pop if it helps get it off the ground. Fuck pump and dumps, and people who inflate bubbles.

  • brlemworld@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    3 months ago

    Isn’t it a private company? They could say it’s worth infinity trillion dollars…