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Yann LeCun to depart Meta and launch AI startup focused on 'world models'

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789 points MindBreaker2605 | 4 comments | 12 Nov 25 07:25 UTC | HN request time: 0.611s | source
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mehulashah ◴[12 Nov 25 13:21 UTC] No.45899804[source]▶
Most of the folks on this topic are focused on Meta and Yann’s departure. But, I’m seeing something different.

This is the weirdest technology market that I’ve seen. Researchers are getting rewarded with VC money to try what remains a science experiment. That used to be a bad word and now that gets rewarded with billions of dollars in valuation.

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1. baxtr ◴[12 Nov 25 14:20 UTC] No.45900521[source]▶
I personally see this as a positive trend. VC in its earliest form was concerned with experiments that had high technology risk. I am thinking of companies like Genentech and scientists like biochemist Herbert Boyer, who had pioneered recombinant DNA technology.

After that, VC had become more like PE, investing in stuff that was working already but needed money to scale.

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2. causal ◴[12 Nov 25 14:41 UTC] No.45900820[source]▶
Yeah there has been some lamenting at all the money being thrown at technology hasn't been for anything truly game changing, basically just variations of full stack apps. A few failed mooonshots might be more interesting at least.
3. Sanzig ◴[12 Nov 25 16:22 UTC] No.45902058[source]▶
I agree, if anything spending money on high technology risk is Silicon Valley going back to its roots.

Nobody had a way to do silicon transistor manufacturing at scale until the traitorous eight flipped Shockley the bird and took a $1.4M seed investment from Sherman Fairchild.

Big bets on uncertain technology is what tech is supposed to be about.

4. WalterSear ◴[12 Nov 25 19:21 UTC] No.45904877[source]▶
This isn't that.

This is VCs FOMOing as global-economy-threatening levels of leverage are being bet on an AI transformation that, by even the most optimistic estimates, cannot achieve a tiny portion of the required ROI in the required time.