How VCs are starting to look at AI startups

A year ago, “we use AI” was enough to get a meeting. Now it gets you a raised eyebrow. The bar moved, and most founders haven’t caught up.

Here is what I see investors actually testing for now:

Is the AI a moat, or a feature?

Wrapping a model and calling it a product worked for about a quarter. The question now is what you own that a competitor with the same model can’t copy in a weekend: proprietary data, a workflow customers won’t switch out of, distribution.

Does it survive the model getting better?

Some startups quietly die every time the base models improve, because the model just absorbed their whole product. Investors are looking for businesses that get stronger as the models get stronger, not ones that get eaten.

Can you actually ship?

The fundable teams are the ones who put something real in users’ hands fast and iterate. If you’re non-technical, that is exactly where a hands-on technical partner changes the conversation. It is the difference between a deck and a demo.

Raise on proof, not on the acronym.