Silicon Valley Reborn: AI Fever Creates a New Generation of Billionaires

Over the past century, the world has witnessed many technological explosions that have changed the destiny of humanity and created huge fortunes. But none has been as powerful, fast, and focused as the current artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.

“Looking at over 100 years of data, there has never been a wealth creation this fast and this large,” said Andrew McAfee, a principal investigator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). “There is no precedent.”

McAfee’s assessment is not an exaggeration. The AI boom is fast becoming the largest wealth-creating boom in recent history. According to CB Insights, there are now 498 AI “unicorns” (private companies valued at $1 billion or more) with a combined market capitalization of $2.7 trillion. Even more astonishing, 100 of them were founded since 2023.

Huge funding rounds for startups like Anthropic, Safe Superintelligence, OpenAI, and Anysphere have minted dozens of “paper” billionaires in just one year. This is not just a story about numbers, but the rise of a new generation of tech elites who hold the key to shaping the future.

Portraits of the new "gods" in the AI pantheon

Unlike previous waves of technology, the AI billionaire empire is built on many different pillars, from those who create hardware platforms, those who develop breakthrough language models, to those who apply AI to specific fields.

Hardware King: Jensen Huang ($113 billion)

Leading the pack is Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. If the AI revolution is a gold rush, then Huang is the pick and shovel seller. Nvidia’s graphics processing units (GPUs) have become the heart, the indispensable computing power, of every AI model.

The booming demand has pushed Nvidia’s valuation to $4 trillion by July 2025, making Huang one of the 20 richest people on the planet. He is the clearest example of the philosophy that in an arms race, the richest people are the weapons manufacturers.

Generative AI Pioneers: Sam Altman ($1.9 billion) and Dario Amodei ($1.2 billion)

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is probably the most recognizable face. While he doesn’t own a direct stake in OpenAI (which is valued at $300 billion), Altman’s $1.9 billion fortune comes from his shrewd investments in startups like Stripe, Reddit, and his previous sale of Loopt. He’s a symbol of leadership and vision in the AI era.

Meanwhile, Dario Amodei, who left OpenAI to found Anthropic, represents a different path: developing safe and ethical AI. With a company valuation of $61.5 billion, Amodei’s $1.2 billion fortune is directly derived from his efforts to build more responsible AI.

The Young Generation of Gold Diggers: Alexandr Wang ($2.7 billion)

At 26, Alexandr Wang is the world’s youngest self-made AI billionaire. He realized that even the smartest AI models need carefully labeled data to learn. Wang founded Scale AI at age 19 and has focused on this foundational but crucial work, serving more than 300 giant customers such as Google, Meta, and General Motors.

Owning 14% of the $14 billion company, Wang is a role model for a generation of young entrepreneurs who know how to find lucrative niches in a big revolution.

Disruptors and Smart Applicators

The game isn't just for platform creators.

In China, DeepSeek's Liang Wenfeng ($1 billion) made waves when he released a language model that could compete with ChatGPT but cut computational costs by up to 80%, a move that sent Nvidia shares plunging 17% in a day.

Yao Runhao ($1.3 billion), CEO of Paper Games, proves that AI can create completely new entertainment experiences. His interactive dating game "Love and Deepspace" has attracted more than 6 million monthly users by leveraging AI to tell stories, targeting female gamers in particular.

Even in a traditional industry like translation, Phil Shawe ($1.8 billion), co-CEO of TransPerfect, has turned AI into a core growth driver, helping the company generate $1.3 billion in annual revenue.

Anatomy of a Boom: Paper Wealth and the Resurgence of Silicon Valley

One of the biggest differences between the AI craze and the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s is how assets are created and held.

The vast majority of AI billionaires’ fortunes are still locked up in private companies. Instead of rushing to IPO, AI startups today can stay private longer thanks to the influx of capital from venture capital funds, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices. Huge funding rounds are being raised one after another, pushing valuations to astronomical levels. Anthropic is in talks to raise $5 billion at a $170 billion valuation. OpenAI is proposing a $500 billion valuation in a secondary share sale.

This creates a paradox: founders are billionaires on paper but may not have much cash. However, a thriving secondary market is solving this problem, allowing shareholders and employees to sell shares to other investors to create liquidity.

The craze is also reviving Silicon Valley in a big way. The AI wave has completely reversed the story of San Francisco's "recessionary spiral" just a few years ago.

Silicon Valley companies raised more than $35 billion in venture capital last year. San Francisco now has 82 billionaires, officially surpassing New York (66). The Bay Area’s millionaire population has doubled in the past 10 years. Sales of homes over $20 million in San Francisco hit an all-time high last year, and the overall real estate market is recovering strongly.

“What’s amazing is how concentrated this AI wave is in one geographic area,” McAfee said. “For the past 25 years, many people have said that Silicon Valley is past its prime, but it’s still Silicon Valley.”

The Future of AI Assets: Historic Opportunities and New Challenges

As AI companies begin to IPO, the vast amount of assets currently held in private companies will become more liquid. This opens up a historic opportunity for the asset management industry. Private banks, brokerages, and advisors are scrambling to tap into the AI elite to win over these potential clients.

But they won’t be easy customers to win over. Simon Krinsky, CEO of Pathstone, predicts that this generation of AI billionaires will likely follow the path of the dot-com era’s wealthy: initially investing in similar tech companies through their networks. Many may even create their own AI wealth management tools, challenging traditional models.

But eventually, after experiencing market fluctuations and realizing the risks of concentrating assets in a single industry, they will seek professional services.

“After the crash of early 2000, many of the dot-com generation began to value diversification and hiring professional managers to protect themselves from themselves,” Krinsky said. “I predict the AI group will follow the same trend.”

The AI revolution is just getting started. The billionaire-making machine is still accelerating, and the people it is producing are not only changing the balance of economic power, but will likely redefine how the world thinks about assets, investments, and wealth for decades to come.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/thung-lung-silicon-tai-sinh-con-sot-ai-duc-nen-the-he-ty-phu-moi-20250810230752810.htm