Menlo Ventures partner Deedy Das is raising alarms about what he calls a stark wealth divide in the AI industry. In a lengthy social media post, Das described the current atmosphere in San Francisco as "pretty frenetic," noting that the gap between winners and losers in the AI boom is the worst he's witnessed. His analysis suggests that roughly 10,000 people—employees at companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and Nvidia, plus early-stage founders—have accumulated wealth well above $20 million, effectively reaching retirement-level wealth. The contrast for everyone else is stark. Das noted that most tech workers can expect to hold well-paying jobs earning under $500,000 for their entire careers without ever reaching that wealth threshold. The situation is compounded by ongoing layoffs across the industry, with many software engineers feeling that their core skills are becoming obsolete. This has created what Das describes as "a deep malaise about work and its future," leaving workers uncertain about their career trajectories. The post drew mixed reactions. Entrepreneur Deva Hazarika pushed back, arguing that "most of the people in this post" are already "incredibly fortunate" and could simply choose to be happy. Another user pointed out the uncomfortable irony of the current cycle: the same technology that serves as a lottery ticket for some is simultaneously destroying the fallback careers of others.