Eric Bahn: The Current AI Cycle Resembles Early FOMO of Web 1.0/2.0
Eric Bahn stated that the current AI cycle feels identical to the early days of Web 1.0 and 2.0, with a resurgence of envy towards employees of AI companies (OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, etc.) reminiscent of the widespread admiration for employees before Meta's (formerly Facebook) IPO in 2011.
In San Francisco, there is again a significant amount of jealousy and complaints from tech workers towards employees of AI companies, with traditional company employees feeling distinctly left behind.
As a city that has experienced multiple booms and busts since the mid-19th century, San Francisco will continue this boom and bust cycle, with the AI wave accelerating the concentration of talent and capital towards leading firms.
Source: Public Information
ABAB AI Insight
Eric Bahn, as a serial entrepreneur and investor, has experienced the Silicon Valley frenzy surrounding the Facebook IPO in 2011. His recent comments continue his long-term observation of tech cycles, having previously pointed out similar FOMO and class differentiation during the mobile internet and SaaS waves.
In terms of capital flow, funds are shifting from traditional SaaS and consumer internet towards AI infrastructure and applications, while talent is moving from stable large companies to high-risk, high-reward AI startups. The motivation is to seize the window for scaling models and implementing agents, achieving wealth leaps through equity incentives, and creating a positive feedback "winner-takes-all" network.
Similar to the envy towards Netscape and Yahoo employees before the 1999 internet bubble, as well as the class divides surrounding Facebook and Twitter's IPOs in 2011-2012, the current AI landscape is transitioning from "early enthusiasm" to "massive wealth redistribution." San Francisco once again plays the role of a cycle amplifier.
Essentially, this is about capital concentration: every technological revolution concentrates resources towards a few leading companies and talents through network effects and economies of scale, breaking the traditional path of "linear returns on effort" and allowing FOMO to fuel greater participation, further accelerating the shift of wealth from traditional industries to AI super platforms.
ABAB News · Cognitive Law
FOMO is not an emotion; it is the engine of the technological cycle.
Each new paradigm turns the previous "comfort zone" into a lagging zone.
San Francisco has never produced wealth; it only produces stories of wealth transfer.