The AI industry's latest identity crisis just got a framework. As foundation model startups raise billions without clear revenue strategies, TechCrunch introduced a five-level scale measuring commercial ambition - not success. The timing couldn't be sharper. With Humans& raising $480 million while staying vague on products, Thinking Machines Lab bleeding executives, and Safe Superintelligence turning down Meta's acquisition offer, the question isn't who's making money. It's who's even trying.
The AI gold rush has created a peculiar problem - it's getting impossible to tell which labs actually want to make money. Veterans from OpenAI, Google, and Meta are launching foundation model startups with billion-dollar war chests and zero revenue pressure. Investors are so eager to fund anything AI-adjacent that business plans have become optional.
TechCrunch just proposed a solution: a five-level commercialization scale measuring ambition rather than actual profits. Level 5 companies like OpenAI and Anthropic mint millions daily. Level 1 labs treat "true wealth" as self-actualization. The middle tiers - where most new startups land - reveal the industry's existential confusion about whether AI research should prioritize science or shareholders.
The scale arrives as several high-profile labs navigate this tension in real time. Humans&, which raised $480 million this week, earned a Level 3 rating for having "many promising product ideas" without committing to specifics. The startup floated vague plans for AI workplace tools replacing Slack and Google Docs, but observers remain puzzled about execution details.
"It's my job to know what this stuff means, and I'm still pretty confused," TechCrunch's Russell Brandom wrote, capturing the industry's broader bewilderment.
Thinking Machines Lab's trajectory tells a messier story. Former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati's $2 billion seed round suggested a Level 4 operation with detailed commercialization plans. Then within two weeks, citing concerns about company direction. Nearly half the founding team is now gone just one year in.
