Computer of the Future Silicon Valley designers are racing to transform the power of generative AI into whatever comes next.

THE BARTENDER POURING FREE DRINKS glances around with nothing to do as the raucous room full of startup founders and software developers gravitates toward its preferred drug: networking.

- MARK WILSON

Chardonnay and charcuterie are no competition in a world upended by generative AI platforms like ChatGPT and Midjourney. We're about eight months into the Al revolution, and this invite-only happy hour hosted by venture firm NFX in its offices in the Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco may well be its epicenter. The firm is arguably the most prominent investor in generative AI, and it's looking to find fresh talent worthy of some of its $150 million seed fund.

General partner James Currier observes the frenzy from a quiet adjoining room with a jaded eye. He estimates that he's already met with 200 AI startups, the majority of which still don't seem to get it. The technology is ready. It's been ready. What's missing is the point of view to transform it into the earth-rocking endgame of software as we know it.

"So you're investing in the design layer of AI," I suggest.

"Exactly," says Currier.

What Currier, a fast talker wearing a '90s-dad-approved open buttondown over a T-shirt, is searching for is a company that figures out the interface of the future that will allow users to tap into these burgeoning AI models not simply to write a poem or paint a picture, but to change day-to-day life and work as we know it. Currier points to an example of the shift he's waiting for: Even after the launch of the iPhone in 2007, it took three years for developers to realize that the combination of touchscreen, GPS, data connection, and app-store distribution could coalesce into society-rattling businesses like Uber. "I think there are big things, but no one wants to whisper them because they're scared-deep down, people are psychologically scared about what this means," says Currier, speaking in the kind of cryptic koans endemic to the AI boom. "They're not thinking the big thoughts."