Analysis and writing on public data.
$6.5 Billion for Zero Products
OpenAI paid $118 million per employee for io Products. To break even, they need to sell 3x more earbuds than AirPods did in year one. No first-generation hardware company has come close.
Big Tech Spends More on Buildings Than Research
I pulled SEC filings for Microsoft, Alphabet, Meta, and Apple. Three of them now spend more on data centers than R&D. Apple went the other direction.
The Government Buys AI Through Middlemen
I downloaded 573 federal AI contracts from USAspending.gov. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and NVIDIA have zero. The Pentagon takes 69% of the money. Five companies most people have never heard of get a third.
Experian Stopped Fixing Credit Errors. The Proof Is in a Public Database.
10.6 million CFPB complaints. One bureau's relief rate fell 97.7%. Another's held steady. The difference is enforcement.
$625 Billion in AI Spending. "No Assurance" It Works.
Four companies are spending more than Sweden's GDP on AI infrastructure. Their own SEC filings say it might not pay off.
The AI Revenue Screenshot Is the Product
Attribution drift, the guru cycle, and the oldest pattern in internet commerce.
62 Patents. Zero Hardware.
I pulled every patent OpenAI filed in three years. The hardware story and the R&D record are telling different stories.