AI startups are turning their revenue into recruiting bait
This is an excerpt of Sources by Alex Heath, a newsletter about AI and the tech industry, syndicated just for The Verge subscribers once a week.
A new trend has quickly emerged for AI startups that want to stand out from the rest: brag about revenue.
Take Sierra, Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor's AI customer support firm that was recently valued at $10 billion. On paper, you'd think Sierra could have its pick of just about anyone who wants to work in AI - both co-founders are well-known names in Silicon Valley, Taylor is also the chairman of OpenAI, and Sierra has raised more than $600 million in less than two years.
But even Sierra feels the …