This just doesn't hold true for open ai
Anyone who bought in at the ground floor is now rich. Anyone who buys in now is incentivized to try and keep getting more people to buy in so their investment will give a return regardless of if actual value is being created.
The money being invested does not go directly to investors.
It goes to the cost of R&D, which in turn increases the value of openai shares, then the early investors can sell those shares to realize those gains.
The difference between that and a ponzi is that the investment creates value which is reflected in the share price.
No value is created in a Ponzi scheme.
The actual dollar worth of the value generated is what people speculate on.
I do agree it’s a very very thin line.
Aha: So if my future line of Covid Cancer Candy takes off even faster, there's "value" in that, too?
What kind of value, exactly? Does the value of being "the fastest growing product of all time" not at all depend on what kind of product it is?
Yeah, true, not exactly a Ponzi scheme: This has even fewer redeeming qualities.
[1]: Only indirectly, by selling off their investment to that next sucker.