Yet another Hacker News

49 points yanis_t 1 hour ago 25 comments

thor-rodrigues 56 minutes ago | parent

A lot of money moved through different hands, yet it doesn’t seems that nothing of value was created.

I wonder how any of this makes sense.

schleck8 53 minutes ago | parent

This seems reductive. Character.ai has > 20 million monthly active users, and a lot of company valuation happens on the basis of user count (which is legitimate, that's not vaporware)

PxldLtd 50 minutes ago | parent

I disagree that it's reductive. If each user costs more in API tokens then your company isn't valuable. That's what everyone's been screaming from the rooftops about there being a bubble. We certainly use tons of AI at the company I work for, if we were paying full API prices then I would bet we'd be barely using it.

thor-rodrigues 41 minutes ago | parent

I have the impression that if MAU by itself was sufficient, the company wouldn’t have had to file for bankruptcy.

Obviously the company failed to convert its MAU into paying users, despite the fact the token costs greatly declined over the last years.

PxldLtd 53 minutes ago | parent

Get with the program, numbers go up = ai valuable. Don't look any closer, details are the AI's problem now.

turing_complete 27 minutes ago | parent

welcome to the world of VC startups

jansport123 11 minutes ago | parent

the rich in society (corps, individuals) are so absurdly rich that they can keep throwing money till something sticks with almost 0 risk. If you believe AI is something civilizationally transformational which it is resonable to believe, then why not throw some money at it.

scrollop 7 minutes ago | parent

Have you peeked at how the (very complicated) financial markets work?

Lot's of people staring at computers moving money and ious around complicated networks within complicated rules making money making money making money.

Really progressing humanity forward :/

schleck8 54 minutes ago | parent

> Google spent over $2 billion to hire away much of the company’s talent, including co-founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, in 2024.

lelanthran 39 minutes ago | parent

That's a long time ago. They should have been able to make a go of it in these hyped times.

glimshe 32 minutes ago | parent

That shouldn't have been a problem given that AI can fully replace talent. The whole company should in theory only have needed a dream and an Anthropic subscription.

Varelion 23 minutes ago | parent

WOAH, SOFTWARE ENGINEERING IS DEAD! BUY MORE TOKENS!

gizzlon 50 minutes ago | parent

I wonder what will happen to all the very personal and sensitive data they (probably) have on users?

Medea 42 minutes ago | parent

Probably auctioned off, like what happened to Spirit Airlines: https://news.bloomberglaw.com/bankruptcy-law/google-aims-to-...

mschuster91 47 minutes ago | parent

And so, it begins. The first domino has fallen.

I'm gonna go, grab some popcorn and cry a few tears... tears of joy.

Krasnol 37 minutes ago | parent

I don't know if there is something to be joyful about.

AI won't go away, it will just end up being a monopoly.

FromTheFirstIn 23 minutes ago | parent

A monopoly on not making money

0gs 43 minutes ago | parent

calling this a domino is pretty funny. "the first tiddlywink has spontaneously disintegrated"

lelanthran 40 minutes ago | parent

It only takes a pebble to start a landslide.

Most pebbles don't start landslides, but almost all landslides started with a pebble.

Remember that almost all the "value" in AI companies right now is based on perception, not reported profits.

m4rtink 21 minutes ago | parent

So Character.ai is Jay Cooke & Company ? ;-)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1873

0gs 11 minutes ago | parent

wow tontines are fascinating! fwiw, i just meant that c.ai was a domino before it got hollowed out by an acquipoach

karahime 11 minutes ago | parent

I think it's unfortunate that this is the case and that the service has been treated unfairly in many regards, but c.ai has faced specific problems that other businesses in the space don't, and the basic service isn't going to be marketed towards the more revenue-generating segments like enterprise without making something different out of it.

jp0001 8 minutes ago | parent

Good. Let this be a warning to shit companies with shit products and shit business models.

ramesh31 5 minutes ago | parent

..that you can be a shit company with a shit product and a shit business model and make a ton of money and then let your company fold?