In the keynote at NeurIPS 2024, Sarah Guo and Pranav Reddy from Conviction delve into the landscape of AI startups in 2024. They explore five major trends shaping the industry: a tighter competition in foundation models with a rise in open-source initiatives; a notable drop in intelligence costs; the rise of new modalities such as biology, voice, and video; potential limitations in scaling alongside the development of novel scaling methods; and a more rationale funding atmosphere that prioritizes impactful companies. They pinpoint successful startup strategies, including the automation of services and enhanced search capabilities, while also examining the shifting relationships between startups and established firms, highlighting the unique opportunities available to startups despite the perceived advantages of their larger counterparts. The conversation wraps up on an encouraging note, suggesting that the rapid pace of change is advantageous for agile startups that bring innovative products and business models to the table.
