
Why the AI Business Model Is Cracking and How Crypto Could Help Fix It
From Unchained by Laura Shin
June 12, 2026 · 32 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the challenges facing the AI business model and how crypto could provide solutions.
OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceXand the AI IPO cycle face a structural problem: a cheap, capable open source exit is already drawing enterprise users away before either company goes public. ======================================================== Thank you to our sponsor! Fidelity: Fidelity has been building in crypto and DeFi since 2014 — now they're hiring. Explore career opportunities at one of the most forward-thinking names in finance here: crypto.fidelitycareers.com. Cape: Your biggest crypto vulnerability isn't your wallet, it's your phone number. Cape is America's privacy-first mobile carrier that rotates your SIM identity daily and blocks SIM swaps before they happen. Get 33% off your first six months at cape.co/unchained (use code: UNCHAINED). ======================================================== A viral tweet by Tom Shaughnessy, founding partner of Delphi Ventures, identified the most basic way AI could blow up: a 40x subsidy gap between consumer AI subscriptions and enterprise API costs quietly pushing businesses toward open source inference providers at 1% of the price. Citadel Securities published a near-identical thesis shortly after. Shaughnessy joins Laura Shin…
People in this episode
Host: Laura Shin
Guest: Tom Shaughnessy
Topics covered
- AI business model
- crypto
- IPO
- open source
- enterprise
- market implications
Keywords
- AI
- crypto
- IPO
- open source
- enterprise API
- market analysis
Sponsors
Fidelity, Cape
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: OpenAI, Anthropic, SpaceX, Citadel Securities, Delphi Ventures
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