If a film is ever made about the bursting of the artificial intelligence bubble, one man is tipped to be its star. Ed Zitron, the London-born podcaster and writer, has become a prominent, colourfully outspoken critic of the AI gold rush. His blunt scepticism, once a niche voice, is now gaining traction as serious questions mount over the technology's capabilities and its shaky financial foundations.
The Outsider's Thesis: Flawed Tech and Faulty Finances
Zitron, 39, first scrutinised generative AI in 2023, a year after ChatGPT's seismic launch. "The more I looked, the more confused I became," he explains from his Las Vegas office. He saw a technology that not only failed to deliver on its grand promises but also lacked a clear path to doing so. His thesis, detailed in a mammoth 19,000-word essay, rests on two shaky pillars: the technology's efficacy and its economics.
On capability, Zitron is scathing. Despite forecasts like that from Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei, who warned AI could eliminate half of entry-level white-collar jobs, Zitron counters that large language models (LLMs) "are basically the same as they were a year ago." He argues they hallucinate, give inconsistent answers, and cannot truly learn or create. "It's intelligent in the same way a pair of dice are intelligent," he quips, describing LLMs as mere probability engines.
While many in industries from film to customer service report using AI to do more with less, Zitron points to data suggesting the impact is overstated. A recent MIT report found 95% of companies integrating AI saw "zero return." He emphasises that correlation is not causation, questioning direct links between AI and job cuts.
A House of Cards Built on Hyperscaler Money
The second, perhaps more damning, part of his argument targets the AI boom's financial architecture. Staggering sums are being invested, with the "Magnificent Seven" tech giants now constituting 34% of the S&P 500. Nvidia, as the dominant GPU maker, is "printing money," but Zitron warns others are spending billions they may never recoup.
The cost is astronomical. A single AI datacentre requires tens of thousands of GPUs, each costing over $50,000, plus vast infrastructure and utilities. The demand to justify this, however, is hazy. Zitron forensically details a carousel of circular investments. For instance, Nvidia's $100bn investment in OpenAI largely sees the cash return to buy Nvidia's own chips.
"When you remove the hyperscalers, there's less than a billion dollars total in AI compute revenue in 2025," he claims. The business model itself is inverted: power users cost providers more in compute power without generating extra revenue, making profitability elusive. "This is almost the inverse of how the valley works," he notes.
From London Misfit to Tech's Conscience
Zitron's journey to tech agitator is unconventional. Growing up in Hammersmith, he was a solitary child who found community online. After struggling in secondary school and later being diagnosed with ADHD, he studied media in Aberystwyth before moving into tech PR in New York in 2008.
He now runs the popular newsletter Where's Your Ed At and the Better Offline podcast, amassing over 80,000 subscribers. He insists his critique isn't born of a grudge but a desire to understand reality. "I have an axe to grind against those who don't want to talk about reality," he states.
His views are finding wider company. He aligns with author Cory Doctorow's "enshittification" thesis and notes a growing backlash: local opposition to datacentres, creator lawsuits, and public alarm over AI's misuse. Even figures like the Bank of England and Microsoft's Satya Nadella have expressed concern, while Michael 'Big Short' Burry is betting against Nvidia.
Zitron watches closely as tech giants prepare to report annual earnings, suspecting obscured AI revenues. "This whole thing is... a vibe," he says. A serious miss, like Nvidia failing targets, could trigger a sector-wide reckoning. He jokes we might be witnessing "the largest laser-tag arena construction of all time."
Ultimately, Zitron sees AI not as utopia but as the peak of a growth-at-all-costs neoliberalism. "I love technology, but I hate what the tech industry is doing," he concludes, committed to dissecting the truth amidst the hype.
