Mary Meeker Reveals Unprecedented Speed of AI Revolution

The adoption of artificial intelligence is unlike any previous technology revolution, and venture capitalist Mary Meeker’s recent 340-page report makes this crystal clear. Titled “Trends — Artificial Intelligence,” the report repeatedly uses the word “unprecedented” to describe the speed and scale of AI’s development, adoption, and spending. Meeker, known for her influential Internet Trends reports, has returned to spotlight how AI is reshaping the tech world faster than any innovation before it.

One of the most striking examples is ChatGPT, which amassed 800 million users in just 17 months — a growth rate never seen with previous technologies. Alongside this, the number of companies achieving high recurring revenues from AI products is growing rapidly, and the cost of using AI technologies is plummeting. While training AI models can cost up to a billion dollars, the inference costs — what users pay to run the models — have dropped by 99% over two years, according to Stanford research cited in the report.

The competition to match AI features at lower costs is fierce, with open-source models and Chinese AI developments accelerating innovation. Hardware advancements are equally impressive: Nvidia’s 2024 Blackwell GPU uses 105,000 times less energy per token than its 2014 Kepler GPU, while Google’s TPU and Amazon’s Trainium chips are scaling rapidly in cloud infrastructure. These investments are foundational bets, signaling that AI is not a side project but the core of future tech strategies.

However, despite the rapid adoption and technological breakthroughs, AI’s financial returns have yet to match the pace of its growth. Venture capitalists are investing heavily, but many AI companies and cloud providers are still burning through cash due to the massive infrastructure costs required. While consumers and enterprises benefit from faster, more affordable AI services, the long-term profitability of today’s AI leaders remains uncertain.

For businesses and tech leaders, the takeaway is clear: AI is accelerating change at a breakneck speed, demanding agile strategies and smart investments. As Mary Meeker puts it, “Only time will tell which side of the money-making equation the current AI aspirants will land.” Meanwhile, the rest of us can only hold on tight as this unprecedented revolution unfolds.