People think AI is dying

Cursor went from 62% growth to -18%.
Lovable dropped from 207% to -50%.
The entire AI dev tools category? Down from 76% growth to -15%.

So… is AI really over?

Nope.

The truth is in the nuance.
While senior engineers are dunking on AI startups as a bubble, tools like Claude Code just hit $1B in revenue.
Base 44, acquired by Wix, went from 950% to 1161% growth in the same window.
Meanwhile, Anthropic is quietly dominating enterprise AI with a stickier, revenue-rich customer base.

Why this matters:
Jumping between tools is natural during early adoption.
Unrealistic expectations (like hitting $200M ARR in 12 months) skew how people read slowdowns.
And some of the “decline” data? Straight-up inaccurate.

But the biggest problem?
Startups, and even marketers, are mistaking motion for progress.
The winners are getting laser-focused on how AI drives actual KPIs: revenue, traffic, and efficiency.

Real talk:
There’s no AI winter coming. There’s a shakeout and a maturing market.
The marketers, builders, and operators who adapt will dominate.

To cutting through fear,
Eric Siu

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