▶Gurley consistently criticizes "circular deals" in the AI sector, where companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and NVIDIA invest in startups that then use the capital to buy the investor's services, calling it "horrific" accounting that artificially inflates revenue.Jun 2026

▶He repeatedly argues that the venture capital market is facing a severe liquidity crisis, evidenced by extended timeframes to exit, the rise of ~1,000 "zombie unicorns," and LPs like Harvard and Yale being forced to sell holdings on the secondary market.

▶He believes the AI investment boom of 2023-2024 prevented a necessary and healthy market correction in the venture industry that was beginning to take shape after the end of the zero-interest-rate period.

▶He views China's state-driven, hyper-competitive industrial policy as a source of intense innovation and cost efficiency, enabling Chinese companies to produce advanced technology like EVs and LIDAR at fractions of the cost of their U.S. counterparts.

▶Gurley's view on U.S. economic sanctions is starkly negative, calling them a "spectacular failure," a position that contrasts with the ongoing use of sanctions as a primary tool of U.S. foreign policy.

▶He is skeptical that large tech incumbents' investments in AI startups (e.g., Microsoft/OpenAI) are effective strategic hedges, believing the startups have achieved "escape velocity" and are no longer dependent on their partners, which contrasts with the market narrative that these partnerships secure the incumbents' futures.

▶While acknowledging AI as a real technological wave, he frequently compares the current investment frenzy and financial engineering to historical bubbles and accounting scandals like Enron, a more cautious and critical stance than many of his bullish contemporaries.

▶Gurley argues that U.S. AI export controls are counterproductive and will harm American companies like NVIDIA, a view that directly opposes the national security-focused rationale for these policies promoted by their proponents in government.