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AI Investors Finally Catch Up to Research from Three Years Ago

AI Investors Finally Catch Up to Research from Three Years Ago
Photo by lian xiao on Unsplash

KEY POINTS

  • •Jenny Xiao, a former OpenAI researcher, co-founded Leonis Capital in 2021 to connect venture capital and AI research.
  • •She claims investors are 3 to 5 years behind actual AI advances discussed at leading AI conferences.
  • •Xiao emphasizes AI development is nonlinear with unpredictable 'lumps,' urging investors to become more technically adept.

Jenny Xiao, the former OpenAI researcher who dropped her Ph.D. like a hot potato to found Leonis Capital in 2021, claims investors are still living in the tech Stone Age—about 3 to 5 years behind actual AI research. Despite conferences trying to look cutting-edge, Xiao says they’re recycling last decade’s leftovers while she tries to bridge this Jurassic gap between venture capitalists and tech nerds. She warns that AI development isn’t some slow, steady hamster wheel but a jerky rollercoaster: lumps of progress, nowhere near linear. Meanwhile, Leonis Capital stays silent, probably busy trying to invent time travel so investors can catch up.

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Source: Businessinsider | Published: 1/16/2026 | Author: Lakshmi Varanasi