Slate News Slate Money | Money Talks: Battle of the AI Bots
Sep 16, 2025
Gary Rivlin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of "AI Valley," dives deep into the competitive world of AI tech giants. He discusses the fierce race among companies like Microsoft and Google to create the most profitable AI models. Rivlin explores the challenges AI startups face in attracting talent against bigger players and reflects on the emotional connections users develop with AI. He balances differing perspectives—from techno-optimism to skepticism—highlighting the ethical implications and future of AI in our lives.
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Trillion-Dollar Advantages Favor Big Tech
- The AI race carries trillion-dollar stakes and favors incumbents with massive data and compute.
- Startups struggle because training and operating large models costs hundreds of millions to billions.
Hoffman's Bet On Emotionally Smart Bots
- Reid Hoffman co-founded Inflection AI to build chatbots with higher emotional intelligence.
- The company's chatbot, Pi, was tuned to be conversational, playful, and safety-focused by Mustafa Suleiman's team.
Personality Shapes Chatbot Success
- Personality and conversational style matter for chatbot adoption and user attachment.
- Overly sympathetic or insipid tones risk glazing users, so designers must balance friendliness and substance.
