Venture capital, the fetish of artificial intelligence, and the contradictions of making intangible assets
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: This paper examines the venture capital-driven process of making intangible assets in platform start-up firms.By examining the case study of the rise and fall of a venture capital-backed 'unicorn' firm developing a digital health platform, this paper argues that the process of real valorization of capital invested in platform start-up firms involves the making of algorithmic systems and data as intangible assets as well as the experimentation with strategies of exploitation and appropriation, which are inherently linked to the future-oriented financial valorization process of equity shares since unprofitable start-up firms continuously require outside capital to expand operations.While the fetish of 'artificial intelligence' posing the firm's chatbot for self-diagnosis as an intelligent 'doctor in your pocket' plays an important role in financial valorization, it is the failed real valorization process in making profits that ultimately leads to the
Source: Economy and Society
Author: David Kampmann
Institution: London School of Economics and Political Science
Language: English
Subfield: Accounting
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funder: City, University of London
OpenAlex ID: W4391401258