In a $20 billion deal last year, Nvidia took what made Groq special. The AI cloud startup left behind bets that special doesn’t matter anymore.

Investors are increasingly skeptical of AI companies’ use of annual recurring revenue (ARR) as a reliable metric, raising concerns about inflated and misleading revenue claims in the current boom.

Sami Akkawi’s startup, Petra Labs, began in his cofounder’s apartment lounge. After a VC workspace and a WeWork, it found its dream office.

Social networking and dating startups used these pitch decks and memos to raise capital and ink deals.

Salesforce is reportedly in talks to acquire Listen Labs, an AI-powered customer research platform, for about $2 billion. The deal would bolster Salesforce’s push to expand Agentforce with deeper insight into customer thinking and buying behavior.

The startup world is increasingly using LARPing to describe founders who perform the role more than they pursue customers. From founder-influencers to AI-era hype, the trend reflects both social media culture and a booming market.