A reminder that the AI funding announcements you are reading today are for startups that were pitching last October/November, got a term sheet in early December and received a wire in January.
You are hearing the echoes of a funding environment for AI-driven companies that does not exist anymore.
A year ago, VCs started seeing AI perform magic. And there was a crazy period of about six months where just about any company could raise capital on an AI demo.
Then the VCs realized they were seeing magic Every. Fucking. Week. and they realized that the concept of defensible technology moats had evaporated seemingly overnight.
The market isn't completely closed You can still raise for AI if you have traction or a world-class founding team. But the days of raising capital on an "AI for X" story were astonishingly brief. And are in the past.
Don't let the press releases fool you.