Why the AI Business Model Is Cracking and How Crypto Could Help Fix It

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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