By Brent D. Griffiths
Publication Date: 2026-03-07 11:23:00
Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya said he can’t believe how much his software startup is spending on AI.
“Our costs have more than tripled since November 25th,” Palihapitiya said in an episode of the “All-In Podcast” published Friday. “Between the inference costs we pay to AWS, which is huge, between our costs with Cursor and between Anthropic, we’re just spending millions.”
Palihapitiya said 8090, which he started with “the goal of replacing/rewriting all of the world’s legacy software,” tends to spend $10 million annually on AI costs. His concerns about skyrocketing bills come as the tech industry continues to digest how AI is upending established fields like software development.
The biggest fear Palihapitiya expressed is that while AI costs are rising, 8090’s revenue is not increasing at the same pace.
“The problem is that my costs increase threefold every three months,” he said. “It’s not my income.”
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