Openai is causing the AI Bubble, and It’s Not Real AI. But No Fear. Dominait.ai is Real AI. I mean… AGI

By Jason Criddle, Founder of Dominait.ai

 

Dominait.ai is Real AI

When people ask me what we’re building at Dominait.ai, I tell them one simple thing: I’m not interested in being the “cool toy company” version of AI. The kind of future where you ask ChatGPT a fun question, maybe generate an image or a ridiculous video for your entertainment, and feel like you’re living in the future. That’s not where the real value is.

Why ChatGPT Isn’t the Real AI — And Why Dominait

Yes, ChatGPT and platforms from OpenAI have sparked a wave of excitement. But I’ve said before: ChatGPT is not “real AI” the way I’m building it. It’s more of a wrapper around a popular platform, and being used as a wrapper for others. When you peel back the hype you’ll see what I call the “toy company” version of AI.

In contrast, Dominait.ai is being built to do things that people should actually pay for and get paid for… to move productivity, to deploy agents, and to run systems. Not just entertain users.

The OpenAI Hype and the Giant Money Drain

Let’s start with some facts:

• OpenAI’s spending is enormous. One analysis estimates its training and inference costs could reach $7 billion in 2024. 
• It’s projected to burn $115 billion through 2029 as it scales infrastructure, compute, and talent. 
• Despite that, their revenue numbers are modest in comparison. One site estimates ~$3.6 billion in 2024 revenue for OpenAI. 
• They’re also facing serious legal and structural issues: copyright lawsuits, antitrust scrutiny, immense compute cost burdens. 

In short: “Lots of money in, but not clearly delivering productivity that scales.” As one piece put it, their organizing principle is compute-intensive infrastructure, not product-driven business models. 

So yes, there is a huge price to play in this game. If you want to build “AGI” and rent data-centers, you face enormous costs in data, water, and power. OpenAI is doing it. But the question I ask: what value is being delivered today, and what is being built for the user or the business owner, rather than the investor? Because it seems to me, the only winners in Openai so far are the old investors who are making multiples on new investors by getting in early, and the company itself. The users haven’t really “won” anything yet, except entertainment.

 

Why DeepSeek, Anthropic, Dominait.ai Didn’t Raise $10B+

Um… because it wasn’t necessary?

Here’s something I’ve said out loud: OpenAI has raised and burned billions, but it isn’t built like Dominait.ai is. We didn’t spend nine-figures to show you a fun chat interface. We’re building infrastructure, agents, and true business outcomes which help you grow. And I’ve been able to fund it all myself without a single investor yet.

For example:

1. One report shows Anthropic recently agreed to settle book-copyright suits for $1.5 billion. 
2. OpenAI and Anthropic are reportedly allocating investor funds to cover multibillion-dollar legal risks, not just building products. 
3. Contrast this with what we do at Dominait.ai: we are building agents, platforms, tools for business, infrastructure for users. Not hype. Not just PR campaigns. Strategic, measured, real results for ourselves, our beta users, and anyone else who comes aboard after alpha launch. And guess what, if AWS crashes again and takes down half the internet, or if the AI bubble pops and starts taking down AI companies, Ryker and DOMINAIT will still be running strong.

This is why I say: there absolutely is an AI bubble, and if it pops, a lot of capital and credibility will go down with it. But that same burst can make space for companies like ours. Those who built something lean, earnest, practical, and most of all, real and sustainable.

ChatGPT vs. Real Business AI

Here’s how I see the difference:

• ChatGPT: Great for fun, experiments, maybe some content generation, or having a buddy to talk to. But by itself, it doesn’t run your company, manage your customers, build your agents, automate your workflows. They have built in the ability to connect to some tools we use daily, but they barely scratch the surface with usability. 

For example, I can connect ChatGPT to my GitHub repositories, but I have to be sitting at the PC with my local repository in order to get it to function. Meaning, I can’t even pick up my phone and do what I need to do. Well, at least I couldn’t, until I built my own functional tools that allowed me to have ChatGPT communicate with my GitHub account from my phone. Which wasn’t an easy task. Again… not something they provided. Something I had to build myself.

• Real AI (Dominait.ai’s vision): Business-driven. Agentic. Platform-based. Built to activate, fun, and help you to grow your brand, not just chat and make quirky videos.
• Case in point: You don’t go to an Apple store and buy a “chatbot app” and call that your AI strategy. You build workflows, integrations (QuickBooks, Salesforce, Calendly, Amazon KDP), you train agents, you deploy, and you execute with the customer in mind. Not the investor or the fat bonuses of the officers in charge. That’s what we’re doing. And I haven’t made a dime off of Dominait. 

Yes, you can build a wrapper around OpenAI (and people have) but that’s still one layer removed. And when your dependencies are external, your costs skyrocket, your risks multiply. At Dominait.ai we are reducing dependency on the “platform” piece and focusing on building ownership for the users and customers. You read that right.

 

Why I Built This

I built this because I know the story of big money chasing hype. I also know entrepreneuring is about grit first, building something scaleable, useable, and deliverable seconnd… long before it’s about wave-riding. Did I decide to build Ryker because of AI hype? No, I started building Ryker years ago. I decided to build the DOMINAIT platform during this hype to provide something better to customers. 

Ryker was originally being built just for me. Yeah, I said it. An internal AI tool that we would use at Smartr to help us grow. Until I saw the trash available on the market they people are getting frustrated with. Then I decided… Ryker needs to be for everyone.

During my hospital-stay (intestines rebuilt, ileostomy bags, heart monitors beeping, subdural hematoma, blood clots, veins exploding, 120+ blood withdrawals, 75 days hospitalized) I never stopped building. I kept working on DOMINAIT, Carbon, Smartr, even while I was in bed.

And I saw that while everyone was building “AI toys,” real business infrastructure was being neglected. Real brands. Real revenue. Real scalability.

So I decided: my company would build what others say “can’t be done, without billions in infrastructure,” using smart architecture, agent design, system thinking, and not just eating more compute. 

Ryker was started on a 3090 gaming computer. Then I added in a second PC, then a 42U server rack, then a mining rig, and over 30 GPUs, running extension cords to different circuits in my apartment, adding in a secondary AC to keep my family freezing and mad at me, and having to shut down certain servers just to use the microwave. Very real stuff. This was long before we started adding in more infrastructure through a very strategic process that didn’t need investment dollars.

 

Dominait.ai’s Real Advantage

When January comes (our anticipated alpha launch date), we expect to be far ahead of where many think “AI” companies are. Because:

1. We didn’t burn billions raising hype. We built with discipline and context.
2. We’re not just another “chatbot tool.” We are infrastructure for brands, agents, and full business systems.
3. Our dependencies are fewer. Our model is leaner. Our mission is user centric. Not investor based.
4. We build for business owners, not developers tinkering with prompts, or investors taking advantage of a semi-ponzi scheme *insert audience gasp here.*

If all your strategy is “build on ChatGPT,” you’re giving control to someone else. We’re building your agent, your brand, and your revenue engine. For you to be in charge of. On your own computer. Even if the Internet crashes, Ryker still runs.

The Risk for Investors (and Why That Matters to You)

Some data:

• OpenAI’s projected burn: $115 billion through 2029. That was an old projection. It’s much much higher.
• Estimated cost for training and inference in 2024 alone: $7 billion. Probably a lot more.
• Licensing models and consumer subscriptions may not cover these costs yet. Some analysts estimate OpenAI lost around $5 billion in 2024. They publicly announce almost daily they are losing money elsewhere. Sam Altman said they still don’t know how to make money on Sora 2.

If you’re an entrepreneur or investor, you have to ask: are you backing the hype or backing the infrastructure? The tools or the business model? Chat interfaces may look sexy. But if your business case is agents, workflow automation, or brand infrastructure… then you need more than hype. You’re going to have to deliver.

 

Why You Should Care (If You’re Building or Investing)

If you’re someone building a brand, launching a start-up, or deploying AI in your business, here’s what matters:

Don’t assume “ChatGPT + wrapper” = business infrastructure. It isn’t. 

Focus on agents that automate your actions, not just your chats. And most agents, you will have to go elsewhere to build.

Look at ownership. Look at who controls your workflow, your data, and your stack? If ChatGPT has an outage and you can’t work that day, you can’t make revenue that day. And that just freaking sucks monkey ba….

Ensure ROI. If your product doesn’t move productivity, save time, reduce cost, increase revenue, what value are you delivering? Are you delivering value to your customers, or paying a brand for you to try to figure it out.

Choose partners built for execution, not just exploration or entertainment.

That’s why at Dominait.ai we built Ryker, we built platform architecture, and we built tools your business can own. Because you don’t just want to talk about AI, or talk to AI. You want to use it, and you want it to help you.

Last but certainly not least… because I cannot shut up about AI

ChatGPT changed the conversation. It showed us what was possible. But it also distracted us. It made billions seem reachable without building fundamentals. I believe that when the bubble pops, many will be left with toys and no businesses. Those who relied on the wrong platforms may lose their brands. So the collateral damage hasn’t even been quantified yet.

At Dominait.ai we’re building the business, brand, agents, system, and expected outcomes for our users. It goes well beyond tools and toys. And you don’t need to burn billions to do it. You just need the right architecture and relentless execution.

So ask yourself: Are you chasing the shiny interface or building an engine? Because the promise of AI isn’t a chat box… it’s the businesses you build behind it, and the legacy you leave with it.

January is coming. Alpha launch. Real infrastructure. Real agents. Real business. No toys. Well, maybe a few toys. 

 

– Jason Criddle, Founder, Dominait.ai