One post tagged with "ethics"

The world of tech startups is often filled with grandiose promises, but sometimes, reality is far more down-to-earth, even shocking. The Builder AI case is a striking example. This "no-code" development startup, which had managed to raise hundreds of millions of dollars and attract the support of giants like Microsoft, recently made headlines for very bad reasons. The revelation? Its flagship platform, supposedly revolutionary and powered by an AI named Natasha, was in fact... manual work carried out by 700 human engineers based in India.

This is a story that raises serious questions about the overstatement of AI capabilities in the startup ecosystem, dubious financial practices, and the increasingly blurred line between human-assisted automation and true artificial intelligence.

The Scam at the Heart of Builder AI: Natasha, the AI that wasn't​

The central idea of the case is simple: Builder AI marketed a product by presenting it as an artificial intelligence marvel, when behind the scenes, client requests were handled by an army of humans. The source even goes so far as to call it the "biggest scam in the history of AI."

The promise? A platform capable of assembling software applications "like Lego bricks" thanks to an AI assistant called Natasha. The reality? "Natasha neural network turned out to be 700 Indian programmers." Each client request was sent to an office in India, where these 700 engineers wrote the code by hand. This is "absolutely incredible," as the author points out.

When Human Work Masquerades as AI: A Recurring Pattern?​

Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. The source emphasizes that this practice of masking cheap human labor behind an AI veneer is not new. Companies have been seen claiming AI capabilities when they relied on "a group of Indians that they hire on the back end and they call it and they call it AI."

This even opens up a reflection on complexity: did these Indian engineers themselves use AI tools to "prompt" and maintain the pace? The line between "AI-powered" and "human-assisted by AI" becomes dangerously porous.

Quality Sacrificed on the Altar of Deception​

Despite the use of 700 engineers, the results were far from satisfactory. The delivered products were "buggy, dysfunctional and difficult to maintain." The code was described as "unreadable" and the functions "did not work." A biting irony when one claims to deliver innovation through AI. "Nice okay everything was real artificial intelligence except the uh except that none of it was," the source comments sarcastically.

The Financial Fall: 445 Million Dollars Gone​

Thanks to this deception, Builder AI managed to attract 445 million dollars in investments over eight years, with prestigious names like Microsoft on its honor roll. But the house of cards did not withstand. The fall was brutal: a default on payment to the creditor Viola Credit, which seized 37 million dollars from the company's accounts, paralyzed its operations. Additional funds in India remained blocked by regulatory restrictions.

After the exposure of the deception, the startup officially went bankrupt. It's an "absolutely ridiculous" end for a company that purported to be at the forefront of technology.

The "Endgame" of AI Scams: "Fake It Till You Make It" Taken to the Extreme?​

Why such an undertaking? What motivates founders to embark on such a path? Is it simply to "ride the hype" of AI and "embezzle money"? The source questions the intention.

One hypothesis is that it was initially a different product that mutated. The founders might have believed they could use developers as a "stop gap" while waiting to develop a true AI, but failed to achieve that goal. This is "fake it till you make it" pushed to its extreme, with disastrous consequences.

AI Must "Multiply Roles," Not "Replace" Them​

The author of the source expresses deep skepticism towards AI companies that boast of being able to "replace all engineers." He suggests that a healthier and more realistic approach for AI is to build tools that "multiply the roles" of engineers, making them more efficient or simplifying their work, rather than seeking to eliminate them.

"Fully working independent AI sucks," he concludes, arguing that we should have understood after "3 years" that total autonomous AI is less effective than AI that assists humans.

A Connection with Versailles Innovations​

Amidst this debacle, the name Versailles Innovations surfaced due to its commercial association with Builder AI from 2021. The co-founder of Versailles, who was also the former managing director of Facebook in India, denied any financial wrongdoing or irregularities in transactions with Builder AI, calling the allegations "absolutely baseless and false."

The Builder AI case is a brutal reminder of the dangers of "vaporware" and excessive "hype" around AI, especially when colossal sums are at stake. It underscores that the complete replacement of human labor by AI is still a fantasy, and that the most promising AI tools are those that augment human capabilities, rather than those that secretly claim to annihilate them. It's a costly lesson for investors and a warning for the entire tech sector.