Go read this report on an AI shopping app that was actually just using humans

One consequence of the pandemic-fueled shopping boom is that venture capitalists —facing fierce competition for deals and paranoid about missing the next Stripe — began practically hurling money at startups that promised to make e-commerce smoother, even ones with questionable business models or technology. Today, amid slowing e-commerce sales and macroeconomic challenges, many startups face a reckoning. 

“Across the startup landscape, there is a realization that a lot of companies had a great story, but their reality” wasn’t, said Keval Desai, an investor at InterWest Partners who previously backed e-commerce firms such as The RealReal. “People are waking up and saying these valuations cannot be sustained.” 

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEr5yrn5VjsLC5jmtna2pfa3x3e5FsaG5uY2aFcK3RraCfoZOerq15yKernqScnrSmusKeZKeZpJp6orzPZpycp52isrOvxGaeqGWimq6ledOhoKw%3D