AI Agents: The $900B Ad Industry’s Midlife Crisis – Tina Fey Style

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Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu is here to tell us that agentic AI is the biggest thing since sliced blockchain, and he’s throwing $10 million at it like it’s a going-away party for the ad industry. Because, let’s face it, who needs ads when AI agents can just find things for you? Spoiler: not the $900 billion ad industry.

  • Key Takeaways (or, as I like to call them, the CliffsNotes for the attention-span-challenged):

  • Animoca Brands launched a $10M fund for early-stage agentic AI, because apparently 2020 OpenAI vibes are back in style.
  • Yat Siu predicts the ad industry will collapse faster than a poorly constructed IKEA bookshelf, with AI agents routing discovery value to blockchain networks. Because who needs humans when you have algorithms?
  • Siu claims 1,000x productivity gains, which is great news if you’re an AI agent and terrible news if you’re a human with a day job. Retail investors, he says, should build wide baskets across 50 to 70 AI companies. Because why put all your eggs in one basket when you can scatter them like confetti?

Yat Siu: AI Productivity Gains Are 1,000x, or How to Make Humans Feel Inadequate

Speaking in Miami on The David Lin Report (because where else would you discuss the future of AI?), Siu compared the current state of agentic AI to investing in OpenAI or Anthropic five years ago. His advice? Act like it’s 2020 all over again, but with fewer Zoom meetings.

“The productivity growth in AI is literally a 1,000x,” Siu said, probably while an AI agent was writing this article for me. “So we think the return profile is going to be a thousand-x amongst the top companies.” Because why settle for 10x when you can have 1,000x?

A $10M Bet on the Next Web (or How to Spend Money Like It’s Monopoly Cash)

Animoca Brands, which has more portfolio companies than I have unread emails (620, to be exact), announced the fund to target early-stage agentic AI infrastructure. Siu said they’re treating this moment like they treated gaming and NFTs in 2021. Because if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it-just throw money at it.

Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu (right) discussing AI agents with David Lin (middle) and Bonnie Blockchain (left). Image source: Youtube. Because nothing says “future” like a good old-fashioned panel discussion.

“When you’re early to the game, you have an advantage,” Siu said, which is basically the tech world’s version of “the early bird gets the worm.” Except in this case, the worm is a $10 million investment fund.

asking questions instead of delegating tasks. Because let’s face it, we’re all still figuring out how to get our Roomba to do the dishes.

Agents as the New Internet Layer (or How to Make the Internet Even More Confusing)

Siu calls agentic AI the infrastructure of Web 4 (because Web 3 was so last year). Blockchain, he says, gives agents the ability to hold wallets, run microtransactions, and establish digital identities without relying on centralized platforms like Facebook or Apple. Because who needs Mark Zuckerberg when you have AI agents?

“Advertising is an almost $900 billion industry a year, which is all about discovery, and it will completely be flipped upside down,” Siu said, probably while an AI agent was writing a better ad than any human ever could. “All of that value is going to go to the agents who are going to find stuff for you.” Because why pay for ads when you can just have an AI do it for free?

He said companies pitching to consumers in the next two to three years will be building MCP servers and CLI tools designed to reach agents, not humans. Because let’s face it, humans are so last decade.

Ghost GDP and New Economies (or How to Make Money Without Actually Doing Anything)

On the topic of ghost GDP (where AI agents transact with each other without human involvement), Siu was like, “Relax, people. New economies are coming.” He compared it to Adam Smith’s invisible hand, which is basically the tech world’s version of “trust me, it’ll work out.”

“Entire new economies come where humans either create agents or themselves want to go and say, ‘Hey, look at this, I want to offer you something here,’” Siu said, probably while an AI agent was negotiating a better deal than any human ever could. He said AI agents owning assets creates a new class of buyers, and humans who can produce things those agents value will benefit directly. Because who needs a job when you can just sell stuff to AI?

Every Worker Becomes a Manager (or How to Make Middle Management Obsolete)

On labor, Siu said the most valuable skill going forward is agent orchestration, not task execution. “You’re hired because you can manage 10 agents well or 20 agents,” he said, which is basically the tech world’s version of “you’re only as good as the number of people (or bots) you can boss around.”

He projected GDP expansion, not contraction, drawing a parallel to the personal computing era. The same argument, he said, applies to music, programming, and media: the barrier to creation drops, output proliferates, and the people with the clearest vision rise. Because let’s face it, AI can’t have a vision-it’s a machine.

For retail investors, Siu said broad basket exposure to early-stage agentic AI companies is the way to go, even if it means holding 50 to 70 positions. Because why put all your eggs in one basket when you can scatter them like confetti? One Anthropic-scale outcome in that group, he said, justifies the approach. Because let’s face it, who doesn’t love a good gamble?

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2026-06-01 01:27