At a top AI conference, 300 attendees were asked which startup they would short.

"Before panels featuring AI heavyweights like Anthropic and xAI wrapped up on Wednesday, founders and investors in the audience were asked a question that Silicon Valley rarely says out loud: Which billion-dollar AI startup would you bet against? The crowd's verdict? Search startup Perplexity topped the list of companies most likely to fall, followed by OpenAI - a surprising second place for the poster child of the AI boom."

"The informal survey, conducted by organizer and independent journalist Eric Newcomer, of more than 300 attendees, underscored what many insiders are whispering: that even as AI money floods the Valley, confidence in its biggest players is starting to crack. Any unscientific, anonymous survey should be taken with a heavy dose of skepticism. Still, it was revealing because while plenty of VCs and founders at this conference and elsewhere talk about an AI bubble, they are usually too polite to name names."

The Cerebral Valley AI Conference in San Francisco asked founders and investors which billion-dollar AI startup they would short. Perplexity, an AI search browser aiming to compete with Google, topped the list, followed by OpenAI. An informal, anonymous survey of more than 300 attendees conducted by Eric Newcomer reflected growing insider skepticism about major AI firms. Attendees described an emerging AI bubble, though private investors rarely name names or short private companies. Perplexity has drawn attention for rapid, back-to-back funding rounds and investor demand at valuations reported between $14 billion and $50 billion. The survey was unscientific but was viewed as revealing by attendees.

Read at Business Insider