AI boom – A post from Menlo Ventures partner Deedy Das describes a widening divide in AI outcomes, citing a back-of-the-envelope estimate of about 10,000 people with retirement wealth above $20M while many others face layoffs, career uncertainty, and “deep malaise.” Cri
The mood inside tech is getting noisier, and Deedy Das says it shows up first in San Francisco.
In a lengthy social media post, the Menlo Ventures partner described the Bay Area as “pretty frenetic right now,” adding that “the divide in outcomes is the worst I’ve ever seen.”
Das’s argument centers on how unevenly the AI boom appears to be landing.. Using what he called a “back of the envelope AI calculation. ” he projected that there are around 10. 000 people—founders and employees at companies like OpenAI. Anthropic. and Nvidia—who have “hit retirement wealth of well above $20M.” For everyone else. he wrote. the worry is that they can work “their well-paying (<$500k) job for their whole life and never get there.”
He also pointed to layoffs as part of the atmosphere. saying “layoffs are in full swing. ” and arguing that “many software engineers feel that their life’s skill is no longer useful.” In his post. that combination creates confusion over career paths. along with “a deep malaise about work (and its future).”
The reaction on X was immediate and split.. Entrepreneur Deva Hazarika pushed back directly. saying that “most of the people in this post” are “incredibly fortunate and can simply make a choice to be happy.” Another user took issue with the cycle itself. calling it “pretty damn novel & also kinda nasty” that “the same technology is both the lottery ticket & the thing eating your fallback.”
Das’s estimate and the examples he picked give the dispute a clear shape: a small group—roughly 10. 000 people at firms like OpenAI. Anthropic. and Nvidia—are said to have reached “retirement wealth of well above $20M. ” while the broader workforce is described as facing layoffs and anxiety over whether their skills still matter. with outcomes moving farther apart as the same AI wave continues.
For now, the AI boom is still generating fortunes—but in Das’s telling, it’s also producing a sharper emotional divide: high-earning insiders talking about retirement wealth, and others arguing that the technology delivering opportunity is also what threatens the safety net.
AI boom Menlo Ventures Deedy Das OpenAI Anthropic Nvidia layoffs software engineers San Francisco X career uncertainty
So like 10,000 people got rich off AI and the rest are doomed? Cool cool.
I don’t even get it, are they saying the layoffs are because the AI people are making $20M? Seems backwards. My cousin works in “tech” and he’s fine, so idk.
“Well-paying (<$500k) job for their whole life” like that’s supposed to be normal?? If your job is paying you under half a million you’re basically poor now apparently. Also SF always been loud, not sure why it’s “first” there.
This sounds like one of those VC posts where they name drop OpenAI/Anthropic/Nvidia and act like it proves the whole world. Like… if AI is making fortunes, shouldn’t everyone just pivot? But then it says their “life’s skill is no longer useful,” which makes no sense to me bc software engineers were always replaceable anyway. Back-of-the-envelope math feels sus too, 10,000 sounds random like a guess from a bar napkin.