While They Question, You Qualify
The Weekly Tea
While They Question, You Qualify
5 Money Moves Hiding in the AI Hype Correction
December 20, 2025
Good morning. ☕ Pull up a chair. The vibes are shifting — and I've got the receipts.
If you've been feeling like the AI hype is finally getting a reality check — friend, you're not imagining it. The correction is here. But that's not bad news for you. Because this is where the real opportunity starts.
"The drama tells you what's happening. The strategy tells you how to attract abundance."
Sage Insight
"The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."
— Chinese Proverb
This week? MIT says 95% of businesses found zero value in AI. Sam Altman admitted investors are "overexcited." The big rivals formed an alliance on standards. And Adobe got sued for training on pirated books. I found five money moves hiding in the skepticism — and they're yours for the taking.
Money Move #1
The AI ROI Specialist
The Drama: MIT Technology Review dropped their "Great AI Hype Correction" package. The headline? 95% of businesses that tried using AI found zero value in it. Sam Altman admitted investors are "overexcited" and compared it to the dot-com bubble. The bubble talk is officially mainstream.
🎬 Sam Altman, in confessional:
"Someone is going to lose a phenomenal amount of money. We don't know who." looks at camera "But we're pretty sure it's not us."
— closes $10B funding round, schedules AGI announcement
💰 YOUR BAG:
When 95% are failing, the 5% who can deliver become extremely valuable. The hype correction isn't bad for you — it's bad for the grifters. Companies that got burned by AI promises now need someone who can show ACTUAL results. Skepticism creates demand for proof. Proof is what you deliver.
💼 THE OFFER:
AI ROI Assessment — audit a company's AI investments and show them what's actually working vs. what's theater. Deliver a "keep, kill, or fix" recommendation for each tool. $5K–$15K depending on company size. The "we'll show you what you're actually getting" positioning cuts through the noise.
Money Move #2
The AI Interoperability Expert
The Drama: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, and Block just formed the Agentic AI Foundation under the Linux Foundation. Anthropic donated MCP (Model Context Protocol). OpenAI contributed AGENTS.md. The rivals are... cooperating? The walled gardens are coming down.
🎬 The AI Giants, in group confessional:
"We realized if we don't create the standard, someone else will. So here we are. Together." forced smiles all around
— secretly plans to dominate the standard anyway
💰 YOUR BAG:
MCP is becoming the de facto standard for AI agent communication. Companies are going to need people who understand how to build agents that work across platforms — not just within one ecosystem. The "interoperability expert" is about to be a real job title.
💼 THE OFFER:
MCP Integration Builds — help companies connect their AI agents to tools and data using the new standard. This is early-mover territory. Learn MCP now, and you'll be one of the few who can implement it. $8K–$20K per integration project. The documentation is public. The expertise is rare.
Money Move #3
The Cross-Platform Agent Builder
The Drama: Anthropic made Agent Skills an open standard. OpenAI already adopted it. The same skill now works whether you're using Claude or other AI platforms. Notion, Canva, Figma, and Atlassian already have pre-built skills in the directory. The agent economy is becoming portable.
🎬 Anthropic, in confessional:
"We believe skills should be portable across tools and platforms." looks directly at camera "Unlike SOME companies who wanted lock-in."
— adjusts Patagonia vest, opens standards documentation
💰 YOUR BAG:
Skills are the new apps. Just like the App Store created a developer economy, the Skills directory is creating an agent economy. You can build skills that work across Claude, ChatGPT, and other platforms. Build once, deploy everywhere.
💼 THE OFFER:
Custom Agent Skills Development — build proprietary skills for companies that want their workflows automated across AI platforms. This is productized service territory. $3K–$10K per skill, with potential for recurring revenue if you maintain them. Early movers will own this space.
Money Move #4
The AI Training Data Auditor
The Drama: An author from Oregon just sued Adobe for training its SlimLM AI on pirated books. This comes on top of the NYT vs OpenAI lawsuit, music publishers vs Anthropic, and 50+ pending AI copyright cases. The training data liability era is here.
🎬 Adobe, in confessional:
"We believed our training data was properly licensed." shuffles papers nervously "We're reviewing our processes."
— calls legal team, updates Terms of Service
💰 YOUR BAG:
Every company training AI models is now asking: "What's in our training data?" The answer is often "we don't really know." Someone needs to audit this. Someone needs to create documentation trails. Someone needs to help companies avoid being the next lawsuit.
💼 THE OFFER:
AI Training Data Audit — document what's in a company's training datasets, flag potential copyright issues, create compliance paper trails. $10K–$30K depending on scope. If you have legal, compliance, or data governance background, this is a specialty waiting to be claimed.
Money Move #5
The AI Antitrust Navigator
The Drama: Musk's X Corp just settled with Eliza Labs over alleged anticompetitive practices. The AI startup claimed X exploited its dominant position to extract technical insights and imposed high licensing fees, then suspended their accounts when they refused. The AI antitrust era has officially begun.
🎬 X Corp, in confessional:
"We reached a mutually agreeable resolution." refuses to disclose terms "Free speech platform, btw."
— tweets about censorship, blocks reporter
💰 YOUR BAG:
AI startups are vulnerable to platform power plays. They build on top of big platforms, then get squeezed. Someone needs to help AI startups understand their antitrust exposure, negotiate platform relationships, and document potential issues before they become lawsuits.
💼 THE OFFER:
Platform Risk Assessment for AI Startups — help AI companies understand their exposure to platform dependency, document relationships, and create contingency plans. $5K–$15K for assessment + recommendations. If you have legal, business development, or startup advisory background, this is emerging fast.
📊 The Receipts
- MIT: 95% of businesses found zero value in AI — Source
- Agentic AI Foundation formed with MCP as standard — Source
- Anthropic Skills now open standard, OpenAI adopted — Source
- Adobe sued over AI training on pirated books — Source
- X Corp settles with Eliza Labs over antitrust claims — Source
While they're questioning the hype, you're qualifying yourself as someone who delivers.
🎯 The Meta Move
The Post-Hype AI Pragmatist
Here's the through-line in all five of these stories: the hype correction isn't killing AI opportunity — it's clarifying it.
The winners after any correction are the companies that solve real problems, deliver measurable ROI, and run on sustainable margins. The losers are the ones sustained purely by venture capital oxygen.
The meta skill? Being the person who can cut through the noise and deliver actual results.
💼 THE OFFER:
"AI That Actually Works" Advisory — ongoing retainer helping companies separate AI theater from AI results. Monthly assessments, implementation guidance, vendor evaluation. $3K–$10K/month depending on scope. Position yourself as the pragmatist in a world of hype.
WORD: How to Talk About This Monday
Pick your lane. Use the script:
If someone mentions AI skepticism:
"The MIT study showing 95% failure rate is actually good news for people who can deliver. The hype is clearing out. The opportunities are getting clearer."
If you're in a technical meeting:
"Did you see the Agentic AI Foundation announcement? MCP is becoming the standard for agent communication. We should probably understand how that affects our roadmap."
If you're networking:
"AI training data liability is about to become a whole industry. There are 50+ lawsuits pending. Anyone working on the compliance side of that?"
⚡ ACTION: Your 15-Minute Money Move
Pick ONE of the five opportunities above. Then run this prompt:
🛠️ The Prompt
I work in [your industry] as a [your role]. I want to position myself for [pick one]: - AI ROI assessment consulting - MCP/agent interoperability expert - Cross-platform agent skills builder - AI training data auditor - AI antitrust/platform risk advisor Based on this week's news (95% AI failure rate, Agentic AI Foundation, Skills open standard, Adobe lawsuit, X vs Eliza settlement), help me: 1. Identify ONE specific action I can take this week 2. Draft a 2-sentence positioning statement 3. Name one skill I should develop in Q1 2026 Keep it actionable. I have 15 minutes.
Run this in Claude or ChatGPT. Copy what resonates. Move on it. Done is better than perfect.
Saturday Sprint 🏃🏾
Your career station. Your sprint. Pick one:
Legacy Builders
30 min: Draft an "AI ROI Assessment" offer. What would you audit? What would you deliver? Price it at $10K for a company with 5+ AI tools.
The Operators
20 min: Read the MCP documentation. Identify one way it could connect tools your company already uses. Write a 3-sentence proposal.
The Optimizers
15 min: Update your LinkedIn to include "pragmatic AI" or "results-focused AI" positioning. The hype correction is your friend.
The Accelerators
10 min: Post ONE insight from this newsletter. Lead with "the 95% failure rate is actually good news" angle. Test it.
🚀 Launch Pad
For students, new grads, and career starters — this week's correction is your opening.
When 95% of companies are failing to get value from AI, they don't need more AI hype. They need people who can help them figure out what actually works. That's a skill you can develop right now.
Your portfolio project this weekend:
Read the MCP documentation. Build one simple integration between two tools (could be as simple as a notes app + a calendar). Document it on GitHub. Post about it on LinkedIn with #MCP. You just became one of the few people who understands the new standard.
Know someone just starting out? Forward this their way. 👋🏾
Go qualify while they question.
P.S. Want to be the person who can cut through AI hype and deliver actual results? That's exactly what The Oracle Table teaches. Learn more about building pragmatic AI intelligence.
📚 Sources & Further Reading
Money Move #1: The great AI hype correction of 2025 — MIT Technology Review
Money Move #2: Agentic AI Foundation formed — TechCrunch
Money Move #3: Anthropic makes Agent Skills open standard — SiliconANGLE
Money Move #4: Adobe sued over AI training data — TechCrunch
Money Move #5: X Corp settles with Eliza Labs — OpenTools
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