Anthropic Takes a Shot at NVIDIA? The Real Story Behind Big Tech CEOs Clashing at Davos #AITrends #Bitcoin #DavosForum
Anthropic Takes a Shot at NVIDIA? The Real Story Behind Big Tech CEOs Clashing at Davos #AITrends #Bitcoin #DavosForum
Right now, all eyes are on the Davos Forum. Davos used to be a place for discussing respectable topics like climate change and poverty, right? But this year, the atmosphere is completely different. It's basically turned into a giant tech octagon.
Big Tech CEOs like Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, and Satya Nadella gathered in one place, and instead of exchanging pleasantries, they engaged in a war of words that was just short of a physical brawl. On the surface, they talked about the rosy future of AI, but underneath, there was a palpable fear of protecting their own turf and a potential bubble burst.
The highlight was when Anthropic's CEO, Dario Amodei, openly took a shot at NVIDIA. After all, Anthropic is a key customer that buys a massive number of GPUs from NVIDIA, right? Despite this, Amodei had this to say about NVIDIA selling chips to China.
"An AI data center is like a country full of geniuses. Exporting chips is like handing over that entire country of geniuses to China and giving them control."
He unleashed a fierce criticism, touching not just on technology but on international politics and trade issues.
And what about Microsoft's Satya Nadella? He revealed his blatant true intentions by calling data centers 'token factories'. “Folks, if more people don’t use AI, this will all become a bubble, and we’ll all go down together.” It was a statement that almost sounded like he was begging for users. He sugarcoated it by saying we should be wary of AI concentrating only in certain wealthy nations, but in the end, it reeked of a desperate plea: "Please use our services more."
NVIDIA's Jensen Huang was no different. "We are not investing enough yet. We need to pour more money into this for the industry to work," he cried out. On the surface, he talks about creating jobs, but underneath lies the anxiety that they need to grow the pie bigger before the bubble bursts.
What does all this mean? It's proof that the AI market is intensely competitive and simultaneously built on an instability that could blow up at any moment.
But this tense atmosphere isn't just limited to Davos. According to a domestic article I referenced, the Korean business world is also on high alert. I analyzed the keywords from the New Year's addresses of Korea's top 10 conglomerates, and what do you think was the most frequent word? Yes, it was AI. A keyword that was outside the top 10 last year shot up to first place, mentioned a total of 44 times. SK declared it would create a new business model with AI, and Samsung Electronics is also championing AX (AI Experience) innovation.
Now, this is where we need to be level-headed. The brawl at Davos, the desperate declarations from Korean conglomerates... Behind all these phenomena lies one fundamental question.
"Who is actually trying to make real money?"
"And who can actually make it?"
AI startups are popping up like mushrooms right now. Legendary developers start companies, and trillions of won in investment pour in. But when you look under the hood, it's often hard to tell if they're trying to build a real business or just having fun with research using investor money.
So today, I've brought a very interesting framework for analysis: a 5-level scale to measure the ambition of current AI companies. Using this scale proposed by TechCrunch, I'll help you distinguish the real players from the fake ones in the market today. Investors and those preparing to work in the AI industry should prick up their ears and listen carefully from this point on.
First, let me explain what these 5 levels are. This isn't about how much money they're actually making, but how strong their will to make money is.
Level 5 is the "We're already raking in tens of millions of dollars every day, thank you" stage. Giants like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic belong here. They already dominate the market and have a solid revenue model in place.
Level 4 is the "We have a very specific, step-by-step plan to become the richest on the planet" stage. They aren't raking in as much as Level 5 yet, but they're sprinting like mad with a clear business roadmap.
Level 3 is the "Our idea is really good, but the money... it'll come eventually, right?" stage. The technology is good, but the picture of how to monetize it is still blurry, and while they have many product ideas, the release dates are TBD.
Level 2 is the "We at least have the rough outline of a plan" stage. They're still in the toddler phase or more focused on the technology itself than the business.
Finally, Level 1 is the "True wealth is loving oneself" stage. Absurd, right? These are the pure academics whose goal is the research itself, rather than making money. These are the places where investors say, "Yeah, you guys just do the research, we'll provide the money." But what's scary about them is that they have the potential to jump to Level 5 at any moment.
Now, let's use this scale to brutally dissect four of the hottest AI labs right now. These are the hottest topics in Silicon Valley recently.
First up is Humans&. They've received a lot of attention recently. Their vision is to create communication and collaboration tools that go beyond simple computation using next-gen AI models. They say they'll create post-software to replace Slack or Google Docs.
But the problem is, despite the media praise, it's completely unclear how they plan to make money. They say they'll build a product, but they're tight-lipped about what exactly they'll be selling. They just say, "We're going to do something amazing," without a visible business model. A classic Level 3 company. While the technology is interesting, it makes investors scratch their heads.
Second is Thinking Machines Lab. Hopes were high for this one, as it was founded by Mira Murati, the former CTO of ChatGPT. Who is Mira Murati? She was at the core of OpenAI. That's why until early 2026, everyone saw this place as a Level 4, with a solid roadmap. They received a staggering seed investment of over 2 billion dollars, which is more than 2 trillion won.
But something shocking happened in the last two weeks. Co-founder and CTO Barrett Zoph left, and five key personnel followed him out the door. Half of the executive team was gone within a year of its founding. The departing employees said they were "concerned about the company's direction." What does this mean? It means that while they pretended to be Level 4 on the outside, a look inside revealed they only had a flimsy plan at the Level 2 or 3. They left thinking, "We thought we were joining a world-class lab, but it turns out there's no plan?" This is a very dangerous signal to the market.
Third, the comeback kid, World Labs. This is a company founded by the godmother of AI research, Professor Fei-Fei Li. Since it was founded by a giant of academia, everyone thought, "Oh, that must be a research lab run by professors. It'll be Level 2 at best." Even when they received $230 million in funding, people were skeptical.
But what a surprise! In just one year, they showed a completely different side. They didn't just stop at research; they commercialized a world-generating model that creates 3D spaces and released it as an actual product. Real demand is exploding in the gaming and special effects industries. They've achieved something other major labs haven't yet. We thought they were scholars, but they turned out to be real entrepreneurs. World Labs is now a solid Level 4, and perhaps the strongest candidate to enter Level 5 soon.
Finally, Safe Superintelligence (SSI). This is the company founded by OpenAI's former chief scientist, Ilya Sutskever. Just look at the name: Safe Superintelligence. Doesn't smell like money at all, does it? They rejected Meta's acquisition offer and declared they would focus solely on superintelligence research with no plans to release a product. And yet, they've pulled in nearly 3 billion dollars in funding, close to 4 trillion won. A classic Level 1.
But you can't let your guard down. In a recent interview, Ilya Sutskever hinted, "If the research takes longer than expected, or if a very powerful AI can make an impact on the world, we might pivot." The AI world moves incredibly fast. This means that depending on the research results, a pure research institute could turn into a commercial monster overnight.
Everyone, why did I tell you this long story?
Right now, the AI market is pure chaos. At the Davos Forum, Big Tech CEOs are at each other's throats, screaming "Give us the money before the bubble bursts," Korean conglomerates are chanting 'AI' for their survival, and startups are walking a dangerous tightrope between ambition and reality.
If you're an investor, or someone who wants to work in this industry, you need to be able to see these levels. Don't be fooled by the flashy funding amounts or the founder's brand name.
You must distinguish who has a real business model, who is all style and no substance, and who is sharpening their knives for the future.
The bubble will burst eventually. What Satya Nadella said at Davos—"If you guys don't use more of this, we're toast"—wasn't just an empty threat. When the current hype cools down, only the Level 4 and 5 companies that are ready to make real money will survive, and the rest will disappear into history.
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Originally published on YouTube: 2/27/2026