😺 You need a moat

PLUS: VCs compete

Welcome, humans.

A New York Times article called Elizabeth Holmes “gentle and charismatic.” Journalism at its worst. 🤢

Make the switch from NYT → TN (The Neuron) before it’s too late!

Here’s what’s going on in the world of AI today:

Specialized products have a better chance of surviving ChatGPT.
VCs are fighting to back the next AI unicorn.
Stack Overflow is seeing less traffic amid ChatGPT.
63% of you said AI is already at your workplace.

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Who Gets Screwed In The ChatGPT Era? ☠️

In AI, the big question is: who has a moat?

“Moat” is another way to say competitive advantage in business. In the AI era, everyone — businesses and employees alike — need a moat to survive.

In other words, if you’re scared that ChatGPT could outperform your business or job, you probably should be. AI has already jeopardized Chegg’s entire business model and displaced thousands of HR workers.

However, not everyone is screwed.

Those with moats (i.e., specialized products and skill sets) have managed to stay ahead of the curve.

For instance, Khan Academy’s AI helper delivers unparalleled tutoring because it is trained on the company’s original research and curriculums.
Khan Academy has a moat (original courses and their amazing brand). Chegg doesn’t (cheating isn’t original).

Ultimately, the survival of many people's moats might hinge on where OpenAI decides to conquer next.

Here’s a simple thought exercise: if ChatGPT’s capabilities were whipped up into a new product, feature, or extension, would your business be ruined?

Why it matters: It’s essential for companies and employees to reflect on how defensible their outputs are compared to ChatGPT-4. If your skills aren’t defensible, you’ll need to leverage AI to create things that are.

ChatGPT is less amusing than most dad jokes, so we think we’re safe for now :)

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Venture Capitalists Want A Piece Of AI 💸

Venture investors are eager to get their hands on the next wave of AI unicorns.

A PitchBook survey of 58 venture capitalists revealed that the majority of investors believe generative AI will be "very disruptive" in the next five years.

The most disruptive, it seems: Investors predicts that AI will drive the greatest amount of innovation, growth, and adoption compared to other tech (climate tech, biotech, fintech, & SaaS round out the top 5).

VCs are doing anything they can to find the next OpenAI. That includes hosting lavish events, parties, and bar nights for coveted founders.

But some worry that they’re going too far, particularly when it comes to funding unproven companies at astronomical valuations:

“as in prior hype cycles, a lot of this will not end well. The market cannot sustain, all of a sudden, a million different companies with half-baked ideas. It feels like the gold rush.”

Matt Turck, AI investor at FirstMark

Why it matters: AI is poised to generate an immense amount of wealth, but we should heed the cautionary tale of crypto's epic collapse as a reminder not to be too greedy.

With that being said, to the moon 🚀

Around the Horn 🦄

Google announced that Bard will be accessible inside Google Workspace apps.
Web traffic to Stack Overflow is down 14% on a year-over-year basis thanks in part to ChatGPT.
The top Google search result for realtist artist Edward Hopper was an AI-generated spinoff of the artist’s actual work.
Sam Altman said that OpenAI is working on a version of ChatGPT that respects copyright and pays if it uses your style/content.
Google plans to announce multiple AI updates at its developer conference this week, including it’s most recent LLM PaLM-2.

Treats To Try 🍿

Acapela lets you create a digital copy of your voice to maintain your identity.
Rewind records your computer screen (locally) so you can find anything you’ve seen, said, or heard.
Glasp is a GPT-powered Chrome extension that summarizes YouTube videos.
Leap lets you add AI features to your app in minutes with the best APIs.
Personal AI lets you train an AI that sounds like you based on your messages.

DM us links on Twitter: @nonmayorpete & @noahedelman02.