TechCrunch Startup News Elad Gil on which AI markets have winners and which are still wide open; also, Locket’s social app is picking up steam with Gen Alpha
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Nov 4, 2025 Explore the rapidly shifting landscape of AI, where a few market leaders are emerging while vast opportunities remain in finance and security. Elad Gil highlights the unpredictable nature of AI investments, emphasizing the dominance of companies like Google and OpenAI. Meanwhile, Locket is making waves with its innovative social app aimed at Gen Alpha, using the iPhone Lock Screen for engaging photo prompts. With impressive user sharing and future plans for features like video and music, Locket’s approach is reshaping social interaction for a new generation.
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AI Remains Unpredictable
- Elad Gil observed that the more he learned about AI early on, the less certain the landscape became due to rapid capability leaps.
- He calls AI a hazy market with persistent uncertainty even for experienced investors.
Why He Started Investing In GenAI
- Gil recounts investing in generative AI after seeing the jump from GPT-2 to GPT-3 in capability.
- That leap convinced him to back both foundational and application startups starting in 2021.
Foundational Models Are Consolidating
- Gil argues foundational models have consolidated winners like OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, and Mistral.
- He expects only a handful of model makers to dominate that layer going forward.