AI is the new electricity: Stop branding your startup as an AI company. Start creating real value

When OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022, everything shifted. AI wasn’t just another emerging technology—it became a household topic. Investors scrambled to fund AI startups, founders rushed to attach “AI” to their branding, and suddenly, it seemed like every company was an “AI company.” Domains with .AI became trendy, and the phrase “powered by AI” started popping up everywhere, from pitch decks to product descriptions.

But here’s the problem: branding your startup around AI is shortsighted. If history is any guide, AI—like electricity and the internet—will become so fundamental that it will fade into the background. It won’t be a differentiator; it will be an expectation. The companies that thrive won’t be the ones leading with “AI-first” messaging but the ones that deliver real, lasting value.

Multifaceted Impact of AI Branding

1. The Hype Trap: Mistaking Tools for Identity

We’ve seen this pattern before. When a new technology emerges, companies rush to brand themselves around it.

• During the dot-com boom, businesses added “.com” to their names—even if they had nothing to do with the internet—just to ride the wave. Some even pivoted their entire identity to appear more “digital.”
• In the blockchain era, companies jumped on the hype train, with an iced tea company rebranding itself as “Long Blockchain Corp.” just to cash in on investor enthusiasm.
• Then came the app craze, Web3, and now, AI—the latest technology companies are using as a branding crutch.

The pattern repeats: technology gets hot → businesses over-index on the trend → hype fades → only the true value remains. Companies that define themselves by the tools they use rather than the value they create risk being left behind once the novelty wears off.

From Hype to Real Value

2. AI Is the New Electricity — But That’s the Point

Back in 2017, Andrew Ng said:

“AI is the new electricity.”

He wasn’t wrong. Electricity didn’t just light bulbs—it powered entire industries, transformed economies, and reshaped human life. But over time, it became infrastructure. You don’t see businesses today advertising themselves as “electricity-powered.” It’s a given.

AI is following the same trajectory. Today, it’s still a selling point, but soon, it will be part of the foundation—ubiquitous and invisible.

Spotify doesn’t market itself as an “AI-powered music platform”—it just gives you a perfect Discover Weekly playlist. Tesla doesn’t lead with “AI-powered driving”—it focuses on the experience. John Deere isn’t hyping up its machine learning capabilities—it’s helping farmers get better crop yields.

Don’t build a brand around the hammer. Build it around the house.

Focus on outcomes, not tools

3. The OpenAI Example

Let’s talk about OpenAI—the company that kicked off this latest AI gold rush.

You’d think they’d lean into the trend hard, right? Maybe even use Open.AI as their domain? Nope. They chose OpenAI.com instead.

That wasn’t an accident.

OpenAI could have capitalized on the AI hype more than anyone, but instead, it built its brand around its mission, not the technology itself. They focused on trust, research, and long-term goals—making their name about something bigger than just AI.

And they’re not alone.

• Anthropic, the creators of Claude, also use Anthropic.com, not a flashy .ai domain.
• X (formerly Twitter) is building AI tools like Grok, yet its branding doesn’t center around AI.
• Google DeepMind, a leading AI research lab, doesn’t market itself as “AI-first”—it focuses on groundbreaking discoveries and applications.

The takeaway?

The strongest players in AI aren’t branding around AI. They’re building mission-driven companies that just happen to use it.

How should AI companies approach branding?

4. The Hype Is Popping

The AI hype cycle has been running at full speed—TED Talks, viral tweets, and billion-dollar funding rounds hyping AI as the answer to everything.

But reality is catching up.

A 2024 MIT Technology Review report found that many AI-first startups are failing to deliver meaningful results. Crunchbase reported a 20% decline in AI startup funding last year, signaling that investors are no longer buying into the hype blindly.

One of the biggest flops? “Chat-o-Tron,” an AI chatbot company that raised $300 million on bold promises but fell apart after users found it unreliable. Now, it’s scrambling to rebrand as an “automation solutions provider.”

“Another AI scam bites the dust.” — X user

The lesson? AI isn’t enough. Execution is everything.

5. The Branding Trap: A One-Way Ticket to Irrelevance

Branding yourself as an “AI company” might seem like a shortcut to credibility, but it’s a trap.

• It makes you one of thousands, not unique.
• It shifts focus away from customer problems and onto your tech stack.
• It ages poorly as AI becomes more commonplace.

The best brands don’t lead with their tools. They lead with their impact.

AI Branding Analysis (SWOT)

6. Customers Don’t Buy AI. They Buy Value and Outcomes.

People don’t care if your product uses AI, blockchain, or fairy dust. They care about what it does for them.

They want:

• Faster results
• Smarter recommendations
• Simpler experiences
• Tangible benefits

Customers don’t buy AI. They buy value.

When Netflix suggests the perfect movie, you don’t think about its AI model—you just appreciate the recommendation. When Waze finds the best route, you don’t care about its algorithms—you just avoid traffic.

“AI’s like salt. You don’t notice it when it’s perfect, but you miss it when it’s gone.”

7. Real Value Looks Like This

The best AI-powered companies aren’t advertising AI. They’re solving real problems.

• A healthcare platform using AI to detect cancer early.
• A logistics company optimizing routes to reduce emissions.
• A retailer using AI to improve inventory predictions and prevent waste.

McKinsey found that companies treating AI as infrastructure, not identity outperform AI-first companies by 2x.

8. Be the Outlet, Not the Spark

If AI is electricity, don’t be the spark.

Be the outlet.

Sparks get attention for a moment—but outlets provide consistent, reliable power. Nikola Tesla didn’t sell electricity as a gimmick; he made it useful. The startups that last will be the ones that use AI as a tool to solve real problems—not just as a buzzword.

“AI’s best when it’s invisible but clutch.” — X user

9. AI’s Transformative Journey Isn’t About Hype—It’s About Impact

AI isn’t the selling point. It’s not the story. The real transformation isn’t happening in flashy demos or buzzword-packed pitch decks—it’s happening in the way AI is reshaping industries from the inside out.

Right now, we’re in a transition phase. AI is moving from being a novelty to an expectation, just like electricity, the internet, and mobile technology before it. The companies that survive this shift won’t be the ones branding themselves around AI. They’ll be the ones using it to solve real problems—without making a big deal about it.

1. AI Is Offloading the Mundane, Elevating Human Work

Technology doesn’t replace people. It makes them more effective.

• Healthcare: AI scans medical images in seconds, flagging anomalies for doctors to review. It doesn’t replace expertise—it gives doctors more time to focus on complex cases.
• Software development: AI catches coding errors and automates testing. Developers ship products faster without getting bogged down in debugging.
• Customer service: AI handles the routine questions, freeing up human agents for high-value interactions.

This is the pattern. AI isn’t a standalone product—it’s infrastructure that removes friction and enhances productivity across industries.

2. AI Is Expanding What’s Possible

The real impact isn’t in automating what already exists—it’s in enabling what was once impossible.

• AI-powered drug discovery is shortening the time it takes to develop new treatments.
• AI-driven climate models are improving disaster predictions, helping mitigate damage before it happens.
• AI in finance is detecting fraud in real time, preventing massive losses.

This isn’t about AI as a branding tool. It’s about AI solving problems at a scale that wasn’t feasible before.

3. AI’s Best Work Is Invisible

The most transformative technologies aren’t the ones that demand attention—they’re the ones that just work.

• Google doesn’t market “AI-powered search.” It just delivers the right results.
• Netflix doesn’t push “AI-curated recommendations.” It just helps you find what to watch.
• Waze doesn’t advertise “AI navigation.” It just gets you where you need to go.

The more AI becomes an expectation, the less it will be talked about. That’s how foundational tech works—it integrates so seamlessly that people stop noticing it.

4. The Shift: From Feature to Expectation

AI is where the internet was in the late ’90s—companies still think it’s the differentiator. That won’t last.

• The internet used to be a selling point. Now it’s just assumed.
• Mobile used to be a feature. Now it’s the default.
• AI is next—it won’t be what makes a product special. It will be part of the foundation.

The companies still branding themselves as “AI-first” in five years will sound as outdated as businesses calling themselves “internet-powered” today.

The Companies That Win Won’t Talk About AI—They’ll Just Deliver

Startups that focus on branding themselves as AI companies are missing the point. The winners will be the ones who use AI to drive real outcomes—without making it the focus of their identity.

• AI won’t be a differentiator. Execution will be.
• AI won’t be the reason customers choose a product. Results will be.
• AI won’t be a selling point. It’ll just be expected.

So while some companies are still chasing the AI label, the real players are already moving on. They’re using AI as a tool—not a marketing strategy. And that’s why they’ll outlast the hype.

Bottom Line: The Future of AI Won’t Be Branded—It’ll Be Built

The strongest companies of the AI era won’t have “AI” in their name, their slogan, or their pitch decks. They’ll just build products that work better, faster, and smarter—without calling attention to the technology that powers them.

Because in the end, the best technology doesn’t scream for attention. It just delivers.

10. Flip the Switch

Here’s the takeaway:

Stop branding yourself as an ‘AI company.’ Start solving real problems.

The brands that win won’t be the ones screaming “AI” the loudest. They’ll be the ones delivering real impact, quietly and consistently.

The lights don’t brag about electricity.
They just shine.
Time for your startup to do the same.

📢 The AI gold rush is over. The real winners? The ones who cross the bridge from branding hype to lasting impact.