Last fall, as venture capitalists were sinking record sums into artificial intelligence, a group of investors gathered to appraise a new startup. The company, Infinity Artificial Intelligence Institute, made software to automatically tune AI models, making them faster and cheaper. The founding team seemed strong, and the market was rapidly expanding. Half of the investors were cautious; the other half saw dollar signs. One of them dubbed the deal an “absolute banger.”This startup was real, and s...