Behind the Curtain: Why you should be AI-obsessed
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Several readers have asked why we're so AI-obsessed in our columns and business planning.
- Our response: Imagine knowing electricity or the internet were coming ... before both fully and wholly upended business, culture and life. That's the AI moment we see unfolding today.
Why it matters: We want to pull back the curtain on what we're seeing and thinking, to encourage you to be equally curious and obsessed.
We're clear-eyed: Every AI company and investor has massive incentive to hype the most glorious AI case. So the technology might never live up to its promise.
- But this would require every CEO of America's seven biggest companies to be collectively delusional about where they're spending trillions in combined capital.
Reality check: There's an emerging conventional wisdom that we're heading into a trough or slowing growth in the AI lifecycle, not superintelligence (yet).
Yes, but: Even if the AI hype cycle turns out to have been just that, we're still betting that massive changes are coming — and way ahead of the preparations by government and many companies.
- So you should get ahead of the transformational times to come. Worst case, you're exponentially better versed in the most interesting technology advance in decades.
Here's our thinking:
- Follow the money. The biggest companies are pouring unfathomable capital investment, time and talent into muscling super-human AI into existence. Meta, Alphabet, Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon and Tesla are beyond all-in on AI. At the same time, the biggest private equity and venture capital firms are betting vast chunks of their wealth on AI.
- Government assistance at scale. These technology firms are fusing with the government, creating a co-dependent relationship growing tighter and bigger by the day. President Trump, in coordination with AI companies and investors, is helping incentivize and ease investment into chips, data and energy, the key AI ingredients. Palantir, an AI company with close ties to Trump, just inked a $10 billion contract with the U.S. Army. This is the new norm.
- Hits everything, everywhere. Most new technologies unfold slowly and narrowly. AI is advancing rapidly every few months and hits everything, everywhere. Not only is every product and service vulnerable to AI, so is every step and part of producing and providing it.
- Threatens job apocalypse. When the internet was rising, its builders didn't predict wiping out half of entry-level white-collar jobs. Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, one of the hottest AI companies, told us that's a distinct possibility. Others disagree. But a very public debate about massive job losses warrants the obsession of policymakers, the media ... and you.
- The secret business conversations. We're unique in that we write a column and run a business, and talk to CEOs constantly. We can tell you that many companies' internal budget conversations are heavy on jobs that won't exist in 18 months. Yes, we believe new ones (that we can't even imagine today) will emerge. But right now, it's about savings and automation. At Axios, we're demanding all workers get AI-savvy immediately so they can survive the change — then thrive. But many employers remain silent about what's coming.
- You speak AI. This is the first technology where complex research, deep coding, or multidimensional thinking aren't the purview of the select few. Anyone can use it. And use it with simple conversational commands in your native language. You think the internet was useful and addictive? Just wait until your device knows you, your history, your patterns, your mind, your business, your health, your desires better than you. That alone warrants your obsession.
- Right now, the No. 1 use case for LLMs is personal therapy and companionship — a trend that exploded over the past year, according to a recent study by Harvard Business Review. And a generation of AI-native students is about to hit the job market. As The Atlantic put it in August, "College Students Have Already Changed Forever."
The bottom line: We talk to White House officials, CEOs and AI experts constantly. Those with the most insight, power and money share the AI obsession. The topic is daunting, sprawling, occasionally scary and often eye-popping. It's worthy of your time to start obsessing.
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