Anthropic, OpenAI listings a reality check for AI: Rocketship’s Venky Harinarayan

According to Venky Harinarayan, founding managing partner of Rocketship.vc and an investor in SpaceX, the public listings of Anthropic and OpenAI will serve as a reality check for the AI ecosystem. The markets are currently identifying AI winners and losers, impacting various sectors including IT and even countries. Harinarayan pointed out that the IT and software sectors have experienced a decline in stock prices due to the impact of AI.

At the same time, record-high outflows from foreign investors have been observed in India, with Rs 49,340 crore pulled out in June alone from the Indian equity market.

Harinarayan, who invested in SpaceX in 2019, highlighted the company's recent $1.7 trillion listing, which spiked its stock price over 67% to $2.8 trillion. However, the stock price has since halved to $1.4 trillion. He emphasized that while SpaceX is an unprecedented experiment, it is still too early to determine the equilibrium of its shareholders.

Harinarayan also discussed the challenges of investing in AI, stating that the venture capital game is about extreme outcomes, accepting 90% failure in pursuit of one extreme success.

In terms of India, Harinarayan acknowledged the opportunities that exist but noted that the volume is not as substantial as in the US or China, which are currently leading the AI race. While Rocketship.vc has not made many investments in AI in India, they have been actively investing in AI in Silicon Valley over the past six months. Harinarayan emphasized that the focus is less on finding enough companies to invest in and more on identifying opportunities based on valuations in the global market.