The Man Who Exposed Theranos Warns AI Hype Could Breed the Next One

October 31, Beijing time — Tyler Shultz, who helped expose the fraud at the US blood-testing company Theranos, has warned that the AI investment boom is creating the conditions for the next Theranos-style scam.

In an interview with the US outlet The San Francisco Standard, Shultz said the real capabilities of AI are hard to assess, and that people often struggle to tell whether a product has unique technology or is simply an app interface wrapped around an existing model such as ChatGPT.

“If you want to deceive people, I think this is a great opportunity to do it,” he said.

Shultz met Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes at Stanford University, later joined the company and helped expose the false claims about its blood-testing technology.

Holmes claimed Theranos devices could run many tests from a tiny amount of blood. On the strength of that vision she raised enormous sums and became one of Silicon Valley’s most sought-after startup stars, dubbed the “female Steve Jobs”. But the technology never delivered, and the fraud was exposed.

In Shultz’s view, the environment that let Holmes raise hundreds of millions of dollars without adequate scrutiny is now even more widespread. AI technology is especially hard to verify, he argues, and the world today places less value on truth.

The interview also touched on Holmes, who has drawn renewed attention. After Nathan Fielder’s film “You Can See Everything” was released, some viewers felt sympathy for her.

Shultz disagrees. He argues that Holmes is manipulative and highly focused on her public image, noting that although she is still serving her sentence she has appeared on the cover of People magazine and in the much-discussed film. He also claims that Holmes has been involved in a new blood-testing startup founded by her partner, Billy Evans.

“I think the only reason we’re talking about Elizabeth Holmes right now is that she wants us to talk about her,” Shultz said.

As for today’s AI industry, Shultz worries that technical barriers and investment enthusiasm could once again make it hard for outsiders to see a company’s real capabilities. He does not think Holmes will be the last fraud Silicon Valley has to face.