I think a lot of it comes down to risk vs. reward. Building truly transformative tech—like next-gen semiconductors or disrupting healthcare—is insanely expensive, slow, and uncertain. Most investors and founders prefer safer bets: tools that are easier to ship, monetize, and iterate on.
AI right now is mostly a 'low-hanging fruit' playground—copying and improving existing processes, automating small tasks—because those yield faster returns. That said, the potential for big leaps is still there; it just takes the patience, capital, and vision to go after the hard problems that actually move the needle.