Sir Afilonius Rex and Coco de Bastó

Madrid, 16th December 2025

Here are 12 tech influencers who are frequently criticised for spreading hype. They are known for overpromising timelines and for peddling unrealistic narratives about AI, big data, quantum computing, and related fields. Ranked loosely by notoriety and impact in 2025’s ongoing “hype backlash” era.

1. Elon Musk – Perpetual vaporware champion: FSD “next year” since 2016, xAI superintelligence swings, Neuralink miracles. Billions in valuation built on spectacle and speculation.
2. Sam Altman – OpenAI’s master salesman. “AGI by 2027-ish,” AI agents “revolutionising work” in 2025, yet reality delivered underwhelming tools, confusion and enterprise disappointment.
3. Ray Kurzweil – Singularity prophet forever predicting transcendence (dates keep sliding). Exponential everything, from AI to immortality. More motivational and contradictory fiction than forecast.
4. Marc Andreessen – Techno-optimist manifesto preacher. “AI will solve all problems,” dismisses sceptics as doomers, while a16z funds every hype wave, including quantum moonshots.
5. Michio Kaku – Pop-physics hype machine. Quantum computers “about to revolutionise AI and big data,” breathlessly blending real science with TV-friendly futurism.
6. Bernard Marr – The LinkedIn “futurist” churns out endless listicles and books. He proclaims “AI/Big Data/Quantum will transform EVERY industry NOW.” Shallow, clickbait-heavy predictions with zero accountability when they flop.
7. Andrew Ng – He was once respected. Now, he is criticised for pivoting to nonstop “AI is the new electricity” evangelism. He hypes every startup course as the path to riches.
8. Yann LeCun – Meta’s chief AI scientist, who aggressively downplays AGI risks while claiming scaling laws will deliver superintelligence “soonish”… Contradicting many peers.
9. Beff Jezos (Guillaume Verdon) – e/acc cult leader. He also pushes the “accelerate or die” dogma. He frames any caution about AI as anti-human. Meanwhile, it is speculated that he runs an anonymous hype account.
10. Lex Fridman – Podcast host who platforms extreme optimists without pushback. He amplifies claims like “AGI in 3–5 years” to millions. He does this with soft-ball interviews.
11. Peter Diamandis – XPRIZE/Abundance360 guru selling “exponential tech will solve scarcity” seminars. Bold and reckless predictions on AI, quantum, and longevity that rarely materialise on schedule.
12. Kai-Fu Lee – “AI Superpowers” author turned VC. He relentlessly forecasts China/US AI dominance. He also predicts “jobs apocalypse then utopia” cycles. However, the timelines are perpetually pushed back.

These figures thrive on bold, shareable visions. Such visions drive books, podcasts, investments, and followers. However, they consistently overstate near-term capabilities. They understate risks, costs, and plateaus. The typical pattern includes massive platforms, zero penalties for being wrong, and endless goalpost-moving.

Thanks for reading, and take care. The wolves are out there.