Shawn Chauhan
@shawnchauhan1.bsky.social
I write interesting things about AI, Startups, Founders, and the Future of Work | Generative AI Consultant | Building Something Big...
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Shawn Chauhan
@shawnchauhan1.bsky.social
· Dec 22
Most companies try to save themselves by adding more.
LEGO saved itself by ruthless subtraction.
They shut down theme parks, clothing lines, and video games and went from $800 Million in debt to an $18 Billion dollar company.
Here's exactly how they did it:🧵
LEGO saved itself by ruthless subtraction.
They shut down theme parks, clothing lines, and video games and went from $800 Million in debt to an $18 Billion dollar company.
Here's exactly how they did it:🧵
TIME named "Architects of AI" as Person of the Year 2025.
Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Elon, Zuck all in one group.
Translation: "We couldn't decide who to put on the cover so we gave up and made it a team photo."
When everyone's special, nobody is.
Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Elon, Zuck all in one group.
Translation: "We couldn't decide who to put on the cover so we gave up and made it a team photo."
When everyone's special, nobody is.
December 12, 2025 at 1:30 PM
TIME named "Architects of AI" as Person of the Year 2025.
Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Elon, Zuck all in one group.
Translation: "We couldn't decide who to put on the cover so we gave up and made it a team photo."
When everyone's special, nobody is.
Jensen Huang, Sam Altman, Elon, Zuck all in one group.
Translation: "We couldn't decide who to put on the cover so we gave up and made it a team photo."
When everyone's special, nobody is.
Stanford built an AI hacking bot that BEAT 9 out of 10 professional pentesters.
At a fraction of the cost.
Every company worrying about "AI safety" should be panicking about AI-powered cyber attacks.
The offensive cyber tools are about to outpace defense by years.
Sleep well, CISOs.
At a fraction of the cost.
Every company worrying about "AI safety" should be panicking about AI-powered cyber attacks.
The offensive cyber tools are about to outpace defense by years.
Sleep well, CISOs.
December 12, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Stanford built an AI hacking bot that BEAT 9 out of 10 professional pentesters.
At a fraction of the cost.
Every company worrying about "AI safety" should be panicking about AI-powered cyber attacks.
The offensive cyber tools are about to outpace defense by years.
Sleep well, CISOs.
At a fraction of the cost.
Every company worrying about "AI safety" should be panicking about AI-powered cyber attacks.
The offensive cyber tools are about to outpace defense by years.
Sleep well, CISOs.
Salesforce acquired 10 companies in 2025.
1/3 of them? Previously funded by Salesforce.
This is the most obvious pay-to-play scheme in tech and everyone acts like it's "strategic investing."
Step 1: Fund startup
Step 2: Get inside info
Step 3: Acquire at "fair price"
Step 4: Call it "innovation"
1/3 of them? Previously funded by Salesforce.
This is the most obvious pay-to-play scheme in tech and everyone acts like it's "strategic investing."
Step 1: Fund startup
Step 2: Get inside info
Step 3: Acquire at "fair price"
Step 4: Call it "innovation"
December 12, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Salesforce acquired 10 companies in 2025.
1/3 of them? Previously funded by Salesforce.
This is the most obvious pay-to-play scheme in tech and everyone acts like it's "strategic investing."
Step 1: Fund startup
Step 2: Get inside info
Step 3: Acquire at "fair price"
Step 4: Call it "innovation"
1/3 of them? Previously funded by Salesforce.
This is the most obvious pay-to-play scheme in tech and everyone acts like it's "strategic investing."
Step 1: Fund startup
Step 2: Get inside info
Step 3: Acquire at "fair price"
Step 4: Call it "innovation"
"Tell me about" searches up 70% YoY.
"How do I" queries at ALL-TIME HIGH.
People are literally talking to search engines like chatbots now.
Google won by making you forget you're using Google.
The future of search isn't better results.
It's making you feel like you're not searching at all.
"How do I" queries at ALL-TIME HIGH.
People are literally talking to search engines like chatbots now.
Google won by making you forget you're using Google.
The future of search isn't better results.
It's making you feel like you're not searching at all.
December 12, 2025 at 10:30 AM
"Tell me about" searches up 70% YoY.
"How do I" queries at ALL-TIME HIGH.
People are literally talking to search engines like chatbots now.
Google won by making you forget you're using Google.
The future of search isn't better results.
It's making you feel like you're not searching at all.
"How do I" queries at ALL-TIME HIGH.
People are literally talking to search engines like chatbots now.
Google won by making you forget you're using Google.
The future of search isn't better results.
It's making you feel like you're not searching at all.
SpaceX targeting $500/kg to orbit.
Data centers in space become profitable at that price.
The entire "space is too expensive" argument collapses in 2-3 years.
We're watching the launch cost curve do what Moore's Law did for computing.
And most people still think space is "sci-fi."
Data centers in space become profitable at that price.
The entire "space is too expensive" argument collapses in 2-3 years.
We're watching the launch cost curve do what Moore's Law did for computing.
And most people still think space is "sci-fi."
December 12, 2025 at 9:30 AM
SpaceX targeting $500/kg to orbit.
Data centers in space become profitable at that price.
The entire "space is too expensive" argument collapses in 2-3 years.
We're watching the launch cost curve do what Moore's Law did for computing.
And most people still think space is "sci-fi."
Data centers in space become profitable at that price.
The entire "space is too expensive" argument collapses in 2-3 years.
We're watching the launch cost curve do what Moore's Law did for computing.
And most people still think space is "sci-fi."
7 AI code review tools benchmarked.
6 of them are basically expensive noise generators.
Augment Code Review: 65% precision, 55% recall
GitHub Copilot: 20% precision, 34% recall
This is why 80% of companies pay premium prices for glorified autocomplete.
6 of them are basically expensive noise generators.
Augment Code Review: 65% precision, 55% recall
GitHub Copilot: 20% precision, 34% recall
This is why 80% of companies pay premium prices for glorified autocomplete.
December 12, 2025 at 8:30 AM
7 AI code review tools benchmarked.
6 of them are basically expensive noise generators.
Augment Code Review: 65% precision, 55% recall
GitHub Copilot: 20% precision, 34% recall
This is why 80% of companies pay premium prices for glorified autocomplete.
6 of them are basically expensive noise generators.
Augment Code Review: 65% precision, 55% recall
GitHub Copilot: 20% precision, 34% recall
This is why 80% of companies pay premium prices for glorified autocomplete.
Meta didn't mention "metaverse" ONCE on their latest earnings call.
Zero times.
After spending $36+ BILLION on it.
Now it's all "personal superintelligence" and AI glasses.
Zuck literally memory-holed the biggest rebrand in tech history.
The corporate graveyard is full of "revolutionary" pivots.
Zero times.
After spending $36+ BILLION on it.
Now it's all "personal superintelligence" and AI glasses.
Zuck literally memory-holed the biggest rebrand in tech history.
The corporate graveyard is full of "revolutionary" pivots.
December 12, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Meta didn't mention "metaverse" ONCE on their latest earnings call.
Zero times.
After spending $36+ BILLION on it.
Now it's all "personal superintelligence" and AI glasses.
Zuck literally memory-holed the biggest rebrand in tech history.
The corporate graveyard is full of "revolutionary" pivots.
Zero times.
After spending $36+ BILLION on it.
Now it's all "personal superintelligence" and AI glasses.
Zuck literally memory-holed the biggest rebrand in tech history.
The corporate graveyard is full of "revolutionary" pivots.
GPT-5.2 just achieved 390x cost reduction in 12 months.
$4,500 → $11.64 for the same task.
But your company is still debating whether AI is "too expensive."
While you debate costs, your competitors are shipping products 390x cheaper.
The meeting could have been an AI agent.
$4,500 → $11.64 for the same task.
But your company is still debating whether AI is "too expensive."
While you debate costs, your competitors are shipping products 390x cheaper.
The meeting could have been an AI agent.
December 12, 2025 at 6:30 AM
GPT-5.2 just achieved 390x cost reduction in 12 months.
$4,500 → $11.64 for the same task.
But your company is still debating whether AI is "too expensive."
While you debate costs, your competitors are shipping products 390x cheaper.
The meeting could have been an AI agent.
$4,500 → $11.64 for the same task.
But your company is still debating whether AI is "too expensive."
While you debate costs, your competitors are shipping products 390x cheaper.
The meeting could have been an AI agent.
Disney just bet $1 BILLION on OpenAI.
Not on the metaverse. Not on VR. On AI content generation.
Remember when everyone said "AI can't replace creativity"?
Disney apparently disagrees.
The entertainment industry is about to get disrupted harder than newspapers in 2010.
Not on the metaverse. Not on VR. On AI content generation.
Remember when everyone said "AI can't replace creativity"?
Disney apparently disagrees.
The entertainment industry is about to get disrupted harder than newspapers in 2010.
December 12, 2025 at 5:30 AM
Disney just bet $1 BILLION on OpenAI.
Not on the metaverse. Not on VR. On AI content generation.
Remember when everyone said "AI can't replace creativity"?
Disney apparently disagrees.
The entertainment industry is about to get disrupted harder than newspapers in 2010.
Not on the metaverse. Not on VR. On AI content generation.
Remember when everyone said "AI can't replace creativity"?
Disney apparently disagrees.
The entertainment industry is about to get disrupted harder than newspapers in 2010.
Everyone's debating if AI data centers in space are feasible.
Meanwhile Starcloud just trained the first LLM in orbit with an H100.
The skeptics said it's "physically impossible."
The builders said "watch this."
This is why Twitter debates don't build companies.
Meanwhile Starcloud just trained the first LLM in orbit with an H100.
The skeptics said it's "physically impossible."
The builders said "watch this."
This is why Twitter debates don't build companies.
December 12, 2025 at 4:31 AM
Everyone's debating if AI data centers in space are feasible.
Meanwhile Starcloud just trained the first LLM in orbit with an H100.
The skeptics said it's "physically impossible."
The builders said "watch this."
This is why Twitter debates don't build companies.
Meanwhile Starcloud just trained the first LLM in orbit with an H100.
The skeptics said it's "physically impossible."
The builders said "watch this."
This is why Twitter debates don't build companies.
Mistral dropped Devstral 2:
- 123B parameters
- 68% on SWE-Bench
- Runs entire coding workflows
- Terminal-native agent
Open source
Permissive license
No vendor lock-in
Meanwhile GitHub Copilot charges $10/month for autocomplete
The open source AI that replaced senior engineers is free
- 123B parameters
- 68% on SWE-Bench
- Runs entire coding workflows
- Terminal-native agent
Open source
Permissive license
No vendor lock-in
Meanwhile GitHub Copilot charges $10/month for autocomplete
The open source AI that replaced senior engineers is free
December 11, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Mistral dropped Devstral 2:
- 123B parameters
- 68% on SWE-Bench
- Runs entire coding workflows
- Terminal-native agent
Open source
Permissive license
No vendor lock-in
Meanwhile GitHub Copilot charges $10/month for autocomplete
The open source AI that replaced senior engineers is free
- 123B parameters
- 68% on SWE-Bench
- Runs entire coding workflows
- Terminal-native agent
Open source
Permissive license
No vendor lock-in
Meanwhile GitHub Copilot charges $10/month for autocomplete
The open source AI that replaced senior engineers is free
Pentagon's CTO just said:
"AI is America's next Manifest Destiny"
The same phrase we used to justify westward expansion
Now being used to justify AI weapons
History doesn't repeat but it sure does rhyme
"AI is America's next Manifest Destiny"
The same phrase we used to justify westward expansion
Now being used to justify AI weapons
History doesn't repeat but it sure does rhyme
December 11, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Pentagon's CTO just said:
"AI is America's next Manifest Destiny"
The same phrase we used to justify westward expansion
Now being used to justify AI weapons
History doesn't repeat but it sure does rhyme
"AI is America's next Manifest Destiny"
The same phrase we used to justify westward expansion
Now being used to justify AI weapons
History doesn't repeat but it sure does rhyme
Adobe embedded Photoshop into ChatGPT
So now you can:
- Generate an image with AI
- Edit it with AI
- Export it without ever opening Photoshop
Adobe basically paid to make their own product obsolete
5D chess or suicide?
So now you can:
- Generate an image with AI
- Edit it with AI
- Export it without ever opening Photoshop
Adobe basically paid to make their own product obsolete
5D chess or suicide?
December 11, 2025 at 9:00 AM
Adobe embedded Photoshop into ChatGPT
So now you can:
- Generate an image with AI
- Edit it with AI
- Export it without ever opening Photoshop
Adobe basically paid to make their own product obsolete
5D chess or suicide?
So now you can:
- Generate an image with AI
- Edit it with AI
- Export it without ever opening Photoshop
Adobe basically paid to make their own product obsolete
5D chess or suicide?
ChatGPT was the #1 most downloaded free iPhone app in 2025
Beat Google
Beat TikTok
Beat Instagram
People are opening a chatbot more than they're opening social media
Let that sink in
Beat Google
Beat TikTok
Beat Instagram
People are opening a chatbot more than they're opening social media
Let that sink in
December 11, 2025 at 8:00 AM
ChatGPT was the #1 most downloaded free iPhone app in 2025
Beat Google
Beat TikTok
Beat Instagram
People are opening a chatbot more than they're opening social media
Let that sink in
Beat Google
Beat TikTok
Beat Instagram
People are opening a chatbot more than they're opening social media
Let that sink in
Shopify just launched "SimGym"
It creates AI shoppers trained on real sessions to test your store changes before launch
So now we have:
- AI making the websites
- AI testing the websites
- AI shopping on the websites
Humans are just... watching?
It creates AI shoppers trained on real sessions to test your store changes before launch
So now we have:
- AI making the websites
- AI testing the websites
- AI shopping on the websites
Humans are just... watching?
December 11, 2025 at 7:00 AM
Shopify just launched "SimGym"
It creates AI shoppers trained on real sessions to test your store changes before launch
So now we have:
- AI making the websites
- AI testing the websites
- AI shopping on the websites
Humans are just... watching?
It creates AI shoppers trained on real sessions to test your store changes before launch
So now we have:
- AI making the websites
- AI testing the websites
- AI shopping on the websites
Humans are just... watching?
Microsoft studied 37M+ Copilot chats
#1 use case wasn't coding
It wasn't productivity
It wasn't research
It was HEALTH questions
People are asking AI to diagnose their symptoms before they ask their doctor
We replaced WebMD with ChatGPT and somehow made it worse
#1 use case wasn't coding
It wasn't productivity
It wasn't research
It was HEALTH questions
People are asking AI to diagnose their symptoms before they ask their doctor
We replaced WebMD with ChatGPT and somehow made it worse
December 11, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Microsoft studied 37M+ Copilot chats
#1 use case wasn't coding
It wasn't productivity
It wasn't research
It was HEALTH questions
People are asking AI to diagnose their symptoms before they ask their doctor
We replaced WebMD with ChatGPT and somehow made it worse
#1 use case wasn't coding
It wasn't productivity
It wasn't research
It was HEALTH questions
People are asking AI to diagnose their symptoms before they ask their doctor
We replaced WebMD with ChatGPT and somehow made it worse
Cursor hit $200M revenue before hiring a SINGLE enterprise sales rep
Let that sink in
While your company has 47 salespeople cold calling prospects, a coding tool grew purely on product-led growth
The best sales team is a product people can't shut up about
Let that sink in
While your company has 47 salespeople cold calling prospects, a coding tool grew purely on product-led growth
The best sales team is a product people can't shut up about
December 10, 2025 at 11:30 AM
Cursor hit $200M revenue before hiring a SINGLE enterprise sales rep
Let that sink in
While your company has 47 salespeople cold calling prospects, a coding tool grew purely on product-led growth
The best sales team is a product people can't shut up about
Let that sink in
While your company has 47 salespeople cold calling prospects, a coding tool grew purely on product-led growth
The best sales team is a product people can't shut up about
Everyone thinks the AI war is about who has the smartest model
It's not
It's about who becomes the default you reach for 10x a day
ChatGPT won't lose because GPT-6 is worse than Gemini 4
They'll lose because you stopped opening their app
Distribution > Technology
It's not
It's about who becomes the default you reach for 10x a day
ChatGPT won't lose because GPT-6 is worse than Gemini 4
They'll lose because you stopped opening their app
Distribution > Technology
December 10, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Everyone thinks the AI war is about who has the smartest model
It's not
It's about who becomes the default you reach for 10x a day
ChatGPT won't lose because GPT-6 is worse than Gemini 4
They'll lose because you stopped opening their app
Distribution > Technology
It's not
It's about who becomes the default you reach for 10x a day
ChatGPT won't lose because GPT-6 is worse than Gemini 4
They'll lose because you stopped opening their app
Distribution > Technology
Anthropic has 54% of enterprise coding spend
After just 18 months at the top
OpenAI invented this category
And someone else is dominating it
First mover advantage is dead
Best product advantage is everything
After just 18 months at the top
OpenAI invented this category
And someone else is dominating it
First mover advantage is dead
Best product advantage is everything
December 10, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Anthropic has 54% of enterprise coding spend
After just 18 months at the top
OpenAI invented this category
And someone else is dominating it
First mover advantage is dead
Best product advantage is everything
After just 18 months at the top
OpenAI invented this category
And someone else is dominating it
First mover advantage is dead
Best product advantage is everything
27% of AI spend comes through employees who:
1. Found the tool themselves
2. Proved it works
3. Convinced their company to buy
That's 4x higher than traditional software
The era of "convince the CTO first" is over
Ship something so good that employees can't help but share it
1. Found the tool themselves
2. Proved it works
3. Convinced their company to buy
That's 4x higher than traditional software
The era of "convince the CTO first" is over
Ship something so good that employees can't help but share it
December 10, 2025 at 8:30 AM
27% of AI spend comes through employees who:
1. Found the tool themselves
2. Proved it works
3. Convinced their company to buy
That's 4x higher than traditional software
The era of "convince the CTO first" is over
Ship something so good that employees can't help but share it
1. Found the tool themselves
2. Proved it works
3. Convinced their company to buy
That's 4x higher than traditional software
The era of "convince the CTO first" is over
Ship something so good that employees can't help but share it
Some Stanford researchers built a language model that works completely differently than GPT/Claude
It's 5-10x faster and got $50M from early OpenAI/Anthropic investors
If they're right, every major AI lab spent billions building the WRONG architecture
It's 5-10x faster and got $50M from early OpenAI/Anthropic investors
If they're right, every major AI lab spent billions building the WRONG architecture
December 10, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Some Stanford researchers built a language model that works completely differently than GPT/Claude
It's 5-10x faster and got $50M from early OpenAI/Anthropic investors
If they're right, every major AI lab spent billions building the WRONG architecture
It's 5-10x faster and got $50M from early OpenAI/Anthropic investors
If they're right, every major AI lab spent billions building the WRONG architecture
Amazon: 30,000 layoffs
UPS: 48,000 layoffs
Both cited AI as the reason
But sure, keep telling yourself AI will "augment" jobs
It's augmenting them right out of existence
The question isn't IF your job gets automated
It's WHEN and what you'll do about it
UPS: 48,000 layoffs
Both cited AI as the reason
But sure, keep telling yourself AI will "augment" jobs
It's augmenting them right out of existence
The question isn't IF your job gets automated
It's WHEN and what you'll do about it
December 10, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Amazon: 30,000 layoffs
UPS: 48,000 layoffs
Both cited AI as the reason
But sure, keep telling yourself AI will "augment" jobs
It's augmenting them right out of existence
The question isn't IF your job gets automated
It's WHEN and what you'll do about it
UPS: 48,000 layoffs
Both cited AI as the reason
But sure, keep telling yourself AI will "augment" jobs
It's augmenting them right out of existence
The question isn't IF your job gets automated
It's WHEN and what you'll do about it
Google confirmed they're putting ads in Gemini in 2026
We went from:
- "AI will make search better"
- To "AI will replace search"
- To "AI will have ads too"
In under 3 years
Nothing escapes the ad model
Nothing
We went from:
- "AI will make search better"
- To "AI will replace search"
- To "AI will have ads too"
In under 3 years
Nothing escapes the ad model
Nothing
December 10, 2025 at 5:30 AM
Google confirmed they're putting ads in Gemini in 2026
We went from:
- "AI will make search better"
- To "AI will replace search"
- To "AI will have ads too"
In under 3 years
Nothing escapes the ad model
Nothing
We went from:
- "AI will make search better"
- To "AI will replace search"
- To "AI will have ads too"
In under 3 years
Nothing escapes the ad model
Nothing
OpenAI, Anthropic, and Block just created an "open" AI foundation
With Google, Microsoft, and AWS as platinum members
Call me cynical but when all your competitors suddenly want to "standardize" together, they're usually just trying to lock everyone else out
With Google, Microsoft, and AWS as platinum members
Call me cynical but when all your competitors suddenly want to "standardize" together, they're usually just trying to lock everyone else out
December 10, 2025 at 4:30 AM
OpenAI, Anthropic, and Block just created an "open" AI foundation
With Google, Microsoft, and AWS as platinum members
Call me cynical but when all your competitors suddenly want to "standardize" together, they're usually just trying to lock everyone else out
With Google, Microsoft, and AWS as platinum members
Call me cynical but when all your competitors suddenly want to "standardize" together, they're usually just trying to lock everyone else out
Companies spent $37B on AI in 2025 (up from $11.5B)
But here's what nobody's talking about:
76% are BUYING solutions instead of building
Translation: The "learn to code AI" narrative is dead
We're entering the "learn to buy AI" era instead
But here's what nobody's talking about:
76% are BUYING solutions instead of building
Translation: The "learn to code AI" narrative is dead
We're entering the "learn to buy AI" era instead
December 10, 2025 at 3:29 AM
Companies spent $37B on AI in 2025 (up from $11.5B)
But here's what nobody's talking about:
76% are BUYING solutions instead of building
Translation: The "learn to code AI" narrative is dead
We're entering the "learn to buy AI" era instead
But here's what nobody's talking about:
76% are BUYING solutions instead of building
Translation: The "learn to code AI" narrative is dead
We're entering the "learn to buy AI" era instead