AI’s Money-No-Object Era Hits a Reality Check in Late 2025

[kevin1]

The AI industry entered 2025 in full spending frenzy mode, but the tone shifted sharply by year’s end. OpenAI raised $40 billion at a $300 billion valuation, while newcomers like Safe Superintelligence and Thinking Machine Labs secured $2 billion seed rounds before shipping products. Even first-time founders were raising at Big Tech scale.

Yet as valuations soared, concerns followed. Investors began questioning whether AI companies can sustain this velocity, whether massive scaling still requires billions post-DeepSeek, and if any business model can meaningfully return the capital poured in. Optimism remains high — but scrutiny has officially arrived.