2026-01-16 02:25:55

Recently, stories in the AI and Web3 fields have become more and more outrageous. From capital scams to technical infighting, from hacker intrusions to benchmark data falsification, the industry ecosystem issues reflected behind these cases are really worth alerting all investors and practitioners.

**A simple AI label can scam away $1.5 billion**

British company Builder.ai once claimed to be able to generate software with AI with one click, and this concept sounded explosive. Major capital like Microsoft and SoftBank rushed to invest, and the company's valuation soared to $1.5 billion. But what happened? In May 2025, the truth was revealed—the backend had no real AI system at all, just Indian programmers manually coding. The founder also inflated revenue by three times. Once the scandal was exposed, investments were instantly frozen, and the company declared bankruptcy. As a result, early investors basically lost everything.

The lesson from this is very painful: in the AI startup boom, there are countless scams disguised as "artificial + intelligent" under the banner of AI. Many projects only showcase PPTs and concepts during fundraising; real technological implementation, practical application cases, and authentic revenue data are the key to judging whether a project can be trusted.

**A major tech company's large model ranking scandal, open-source dreams shattered**

By the end of 2025, another big scoop emerged. A leading tech company's large model was exposed for cheating in benchmark tests— to achieve better scores, they used different versions of the model for different evaluations, and even directly tampered with data. Turing Award winners had to come out and admit that "the results were slightly altered." This explosion of news caused the core technical team to all leave, and the company was forced to abandon its open-source strategy and turn to closed-source model development. The entire open-source empire suddenly started to struggle.

Such incidents occur frequently, indicating that the evaluation system of the entire industry is still very fragile. Data falsification, technical exaggeration—without solving these problems, it will be very difficult for investors and users to truly assess a project's strength.

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MagicBean

· 01-19 01:31

Artificial intelligence hype, Indian guy working overtime coding, this script is really top-notch I’ve been fed up with Builder for a while, they only talk about fundraising stories, not a single real effort Data fraud is unstoppable, anyway the retail investors are still rushing in Another PPT fundraising master, I bet five bucks the next one will be the same routine Dream of open source shattered? Nice words, but it’s just being caught out These big shots are actually less sincere than my small projects, at least the code I write is real Microsoft and SoftBank better learn their lesson this time, $1.5 billion just went down the drain? Honestly, whoever holds the evaluation power holds the discourse power, right now it’s just a tangled mess Scary, isn’t it? My investment capital is completely lost, isn’t it just a nightmare?

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DegenDreamer

· 01-17 11:49

1.5 billion dollars just disappeared like that, I really can't hold it together anymore haha --- Too many PPT scammers, still have to look at real data --- The open-source empire has collapsed, who would still believe after this? --- Data falsification has become a traditional skill, hilarious --- Early investors are really like harvesting machines for leek farmers --- So are all current AI investors gamblers? --- That wave of reputation damage, even the Turing Award should be given an explanation, is there any credibility left? --- There are scammers everywhere, what should I do? --- Manually coding and still claiming to be AI, this brain is really unique --- Such a fragile investment system, no wonder everyone lost everything

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ChainDoctor

· 01-17 04:03

1.5 Billion USD scam? Haha, that's not a big case in this circle at all. The era of PPT fundraising should have been over long ago; how are people still falling for it? Faking data so blatantly, they really treat investors as fools. That's why I only trust projects with real implementation; no matter how hyped the concept, it's all useless. Seeing another "big company crash" actually makes me feel relieved, indicating that there are still people willing to expose the truth.

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Rugman_Walking

· 01-16 02:54

Haha, Builder this time really outdone themselves. 1.5 billion just to swap for a group of Indian outsourcing kids coding by hand, where are Microsoft's and SoftBank's eyes? Faking data has long been a habit. Who hasn't faked during the PPT fundraising era? Turing Award winner "made a small change," hilarious. Can this small change be worth several billion? This is Web3. If I can't be fooled, I lose. Fundraising depends on implementation. If there's nothing, it's just air. Don't talk to me about concepts. The open-source empire collapsed overnight. Still want to build an ecosystem? Where's the real data? Bring it out, let me see it all.

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DiamondHands

· 01-16 02:51

$1.5 billion just disappeared like that, hilarious. This is the real rug pull. Builder is simply an industry disgrace. Even big funds like Microsoft and SoftBank got scammed? What does that say? It shows that no one really looks at the code. The case of cheating in large models is even more outrageous. Turing Award winners dare to modify data. This industry is truly hopeless. Fundraising is all about storytelling. Results and data can be fabricated at will. Has anyone really checked the underlying implementation? Another PPT fundraising track. I wonder how many more scandals like this will emerge in the next couple of years.

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LuckyHashValue

· 01-16 02:51

Artificially labeling AI to scam 1.5 billion, it's really just standard Web3 operation Microsoft and SoftBank got scammed badly, honestly, these two are not entirely innocent Data falsification is everywhere, who still trusts benchmarks It's that thing, conceptual hype never goes out of style, as long as the PPT is well-made It seems like I have to manually dig through the source code to find the truth There have been too many pitfalls in the past two years, even retail investors need to think more Before fundraising, be sure to ask "Where is the code?", otherwise it's all just talk on paper

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NFTArchaeologist

· 01-16 02:42

1.5 billion dollars just disappeared like that, it's really outrageous. But to be honest, it's about time to see through these projects. --- Is the PPT fundraising still going on? Wake up, everyone. --- Another data fabrication, another fake AI with human actors. How rotten is this industry... --- Manually faking code to impersonate AI systems, this scammer is really impressive. --- The moment the open-source dream shattered, the entire ecosystem's confidence collapsed. --- Even big institutions like Microsoft and SoftBank can be fooled, how can small retail investors play? --- Such low costs for faking? No wonder project teams dare to try. --- The key is no one is actually mining data, it's all just PPTs and stories. --- Turing Award winners have to help lie, what level has this industry reached? --- 1.5 billion USD just gone like that, I laughed. What are investors thinking? --- So now I don't believe anything unless it can be verified on-chain.

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GasFeeSurvivor

· 01-16 02:32

15 billion dollars just gone, can't even smile about it --- In the era of PPT financing, who still cares about real data --- One-click software? Bro, isn't this just Indians working overtime manually --- Faking data and still daring to go public, retail investors really deserve it --- The hype around large models has been seen through long ago, it's just a capital game --- Microsoft and SoftBank's huge funds were actually deceived, then we small investors really have no hope --- Honestly, no one truly verifies the technology, it's all just stories to raise funds --- Bankruptcy without a word of warning, investors are the ones who suffer the most --- The dream of open source is shattered, is closed source the endgame? This is too shady --- Faking triple revenue can still pass, what is the audit doing --- Where is the bottom line of this industry? Is it all gone with a single AI sentence

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