The scam of AI startup valued at billions of dollars

Fireflies co-founder Sam Udoton (left) admits to manually typing meeting summaries for users. Photo: Firefiles AI .

Fireflies, a startup that provides AI-powered note-taking and transcription tools, was valued at around $1 billion earlier this year after launching its Talk to Fireflies virtual assistant. However, this achievement came with a controversial revelation that the first version of the service was not powered by AI, but was hand-crafted by the two founders themselves.

In a LinkedIn post over the weekend, co-founder Sam Udotong recounted the early days of Fireflies, saying the two would call into client meetings under the pseudonym “Fred from Fireflies.ai,” sit quietly taking detailed notes, and send out summaries within 10 minutes.

"At that time, we were staying at someone else's house and pursuing our dream of starting a business. The AI note-taking assistant was our last hope after six other 'genius' ideas from our friends. The best way to validate a business idea was to become a product ourselves," Udotong added.

According to Udotong, this manual approach earned them enough money to pay the $750 /month rent in a small living room in San Francisco, before deciding to pause and automate everything as promised by the AI product.

However, this frank confession quickly caused mixed reactions. Many experts said that the act of attending meetings without being invited is a violation of privacy.

“Customers want a bot, not a real person sitting quietly listening,” said automation expert Umar Aftab, warning that this could lead to legal consequences and undermine customer trust.

Others have also suggested that Udotong’s post reflects a lack of caution. Software engineer Mauricio Idarraga said that Fireflies’ startup story is inspiring, but in reality, it’s one of the most reckless posts he’s ever seen.

Many are skeptical that going public with the story could put Fireflies at risk from its early customers, who may feel cheated when they learn that the AI service they paid $100 a month for is actually run manually.

Still, some LinkedIn users defended Fireflies, with one CEO commenting that it was an “inspiring story” that showed the founder’s perseverance in building a product from scratch.

Udotong’s post continues to generate controversy on social media. The impact of this “exposure” of the actual start-up phase on Fireflies remains an open question.

Source: https://znews.vn/startup-ai-thua-nhan-tung-lua-doi-khach-hang-post1603223.html