Startup Reportedly Claimed Fake Clients as Its AI-Powered Sales Bot Flailed

You've probably heard that AI is going to revolutionize work. That's according to tech tycoons, corporate stenographers, and excited venture capitalists — the folks polluting the air we breathe in order to stuff the internet full of AI-generated slop. After all, who's more qualified to understand the essence of a hard day's work? But however much AI hype they drum up, the tech keeps running head-first into reality. Look no further than a new investigation by TechCrunch, alleging a rampant pattern of sketchy behavior by a startup called 11x, a rising star in the AI automation game. 11x's bread and butter is an AI-powered sales robot that's said to place phone calls, scrape data, and schedule meetings without any need for pesky human input. Called the "the leader in AI-powered digital workers," 11x pulled millions in funding over several investor rounds by promising a "new model for how work gets done," according to Joe Schmidt, a partner at Andreessen Horowitz, a major investor in 11x ... Read full article.