Should VCs take on the (financing) role instead of the state/government?
Yesterday, @rrhoover shared a Forum about Y Combinator and the topics they are interested in.
These 5 grabbed my attention in the list:
AI for Scientific Advancement 🧬
Healthcare AI 🩻
The Future of Education 📚
AI Residential Security 🔐
AI Research Labs 🔬
All of these areas seem to be something that the government should primarily focus on (education, health, science, and public safety).
However, we also see an escalating situation globally where government spending on these areas is being cut.
Do you think venture capitalists should take on this role of the state and be their priority?
How can we ensure AI innovations funded by profit-oriented VCs are accessible to everyone, especially marginalised communities? (These sectors are typically considered to be in the public interest.)
Replies
In theory, VCs could fill the gap. But in practice, their incentives rarely align with long-term public good. Funding scientific research or education tools with 10x return expectations often leads to weird shortcuts or misaligned priorities.
One thing that could help: more hybrid models. For example, VC-backed labs that publish open research or tools that stay free for educators. Not perfect, but maybe a middle path.
What do you think?
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@titouan_de_dain The thing (or how I perceive it) that these things like science, research, etc, are very technical and time-consuming. Some results are not achieved after 5 years of funding (like, hey, where is that cure for cancer?) When someone is willing to finance these fields, they need to be very very very patient, rich and altruistic (just my POV).