The score is now humans one, artificial intelligence zero…sort of. A London-based company called Builder.ai, once valued at $1.5 billion, went bankrupt after it was revealed that its “AI” app-building service was actually powered by over 700 human engineers in India. The company claimed its tool, Natasha, could create apps quickly using artificial intelligence, and Microsoft invested $455 million in it. However, it turned out that most of the work was done by people, not AI, with only some clerical tasks using basic software.
The truth came out in May when an audit showed the company also lied about its sales, claiming $220 million when it only made $50 million. This led to a lender seizing $37 million from its accounts, leaving Builder.ai unable to pay its workers. The company announced on LinkedIn that it couldn’t recover from financial problems and past decisions, leading to its collapse after eight years of misleading investors about its AI capabilities.