Welcome to The Prompt, your Monday dive into the world of AI that puts Asia front and center. From Big Tech’s power players to the region’s scrappy disruptors, we cover it all. Want full access to all our AI reporting? Subscribe to us here.
Hi there,
This week, we’re dropping a reality check for the AI-will-change-everything crowd here.
Generative AI’s golden child, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, has finally said that the AI market looks a lot like the dot-com bubble. And why wouldn’t it? Everyone’s throwing money at AI like it’s a winning lottery ticket, but the numbers just aren’t coming up.
MIT has released a study showing that 95% of companies investing in genAI have nothing to show for it. Billions spent, endless pilot projects started – and the return on investment? Zero.
Even Meta, which went full kid-in-a-candy-store and poured in billions into “superintelligence labs,” has hit pause on hiring, citing “organizational planning.”
Image credit: Timmy Loen
The company previously made headlines for reportedly offering US$100 million signing bonuses and buying nearly half of Scale AI for US$14.3 billion just to land its CEO, Alexandr Wang. But now it seems like someone added up the bill and realized the only thing scaling is Meta’s burn rate.
So yes, AI can surely write emails, summarize meetings, and analyse results. But the profits are still in beta.
Despite all this, AI leaders in Southeast Asia don’t seem rattled. This optimism is why my colleagues Melissa and Duc put together a visual piece spotlighting the individuals shaping the region’s AI landscape.
Meanwhile, in another top story, Glenn unpacks why data-labeling startup Datasaur has shifted gears from AI text labeling to building private large language models (LLMs).
Samreen Ahmad, journalist
TOP AI READS FROM OUR DESK
1️⃣ Movers and shakers in Southeast Asia’s genAI space
WHAT WE THINK
STANDOUT AI BETS IN ASIA
FOUNDER FOCUS
Beyond the slowdown: where the next big wins begin
Stay updated on the go with our mobile app.
Get latest insights with smoother, more personalized experience through TIA mobile app.
