When William Zhang dropped out of UT last month to move to San Francisco, he asked his Instagram followers, “Is it possible for a 19-year-old college dropout to build a $1 billion AI startup?”
Zhang is one of a handful of entrepreneurs from the University trying to break into the business of artificial intelligence. Zhang founded Nebula, an AI startup that would give large language models the ability to self-improve using artificial intelligence. He dropped out of the University so that he would be able to dedicate all of his time to the startup.
“My decision of dropping out of school isn’t for everyone, and the only reason why I did so is because I was very confident in my skills,” Zhang said. “I was just curious to see what I can do.”
Michael Sury, the director of the Center for Analytics and Transformative Technologies at UT, said that new AI startups are popping up fast because new technologies have given people a lot of opportunities to break into the industry across fields from finance to healthcare.
“If history is any guide, just like in past tech waves, most AI startups will probably not succeed,” Sury wrote. “But the ones that do could be very impactful. The low cost of experimenting with AI means that we’ll keep seeing new companies pop up. Over time, the market will sort out which ones truly create lasting value.”
Zhang said even though there is a small chance of the startup succeeding, the idea that the project could change the landscape of AI keeps him going every day. He said he doesn’t regret his decision to leave the University, and he encourages others to start trying to build things with AI.
“I think you need a degree of delusionality, something with your brain to make that leap,” Zhang said. “It really does go against all conventions.”
Computer science sophomore Anush Sonone is also pursuing his own startup while at UT as the co-founder of Profluento, an AI-powered tool for networking in wealth management. He said he tries to find a balance between classwork and this new business.
“Just because I’m the founder, I try to prioritize this a little bit more than my school,” Sonone said. “I feel like if it’s something that succeeds, then in the long term, it is worth it.”
He said if he could give one piece of advice to other students looking to pursue these opportunities in AI, it would be to make sure they know their customers and have a good product.
“You can have a million dollars, but if you’re inherently working on a product that doesn’t work, there’s no point of having that money, right?” Sonone said. “You need to do your market research. You need to understand what the problem is within your area.”
Sawyer Grimaldi, a psychology and economics freshman and the head of marketing at Profluento, said he joined the company because he thought it was a great business idea and would like to see other UT students get involved in the AI Industry.
“It’s only logical to join a startup like this and try to make an impact in such an emerging industry,” Grimaldi said.
Sury said regulation and ethics will also end up being very important to the future of AI and could shape how sustainable these businesses are.
“AI right now feels similar to the early days of the internet,” Sury wrote. “There’s a rush of experimentation, but long-term winners will be the firms that solve real problems, not just those chasing the hype.”