Tyler Shultz, who exposed the Theranos fraud, warns: the AI boom may spawn the next Theranos
Tyler Shultz, who helped expose the Theranos fraud scandal, warns that the AI investment boom is creating the conditions for the next Theranos-like scam. He said the true capabilities of AI technology are hard to assess, and people often struggle to tell whether a product actually has unique technology or is merely an application interface layered on top of existing models such as ChatGPT. Shultz said that if one wants to deceive people, this is a great opportunity to do so.
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The man who helped expose the "female Steve Jobs" scam warns: the AI boom may spawn the next Theranos
2026-10-31 08:59 Phoenix Tech - Yu Lei
Beijing time, October 31 — Tyler Shultz, who helped expose the fraud scandal at the American blood-testing company Theranos, recently warned that the AI investment boom is creating the conditions for the next Theranos-like scam.
In an interview with the American outlet The San Francisco Standard, Shultz said the true capabilities of AI technology are hard to assess, and people often find it difficult to tell whether a product actually possesses unique technology or is merely an application interface layered on top of existing models such as ChatGPT.
"If you want to deceive people, I think this is a very good opportunity to do so," he said.
Shultz met Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes at Stanford University, later joined the company, and helped expose the false claims about its blood-testing technology.
Holmes once claimed that Theranos's device could perform multiple tests with only a small amount of blood. With this vision, she attracted a large amount of investment and briefly became a highly sought-after startup star in Silicon Valley, known as the "female Steve Jobs." But the company's technological promises ultimately failed to materialize, and the fraud scandal came to light.
Shultz's interview also touched on Holmes, who has recently drawn renewed public attention. After the release of Nathan Fielder's film "You Can See Everything," some viewers felt sympathy for Holmes.
Shultz takes a different view. He believes Holmes is skilled at manipulating others and is also very focused on her public image. Shultz said that although Holmes is still serving her sentence, she still appeared on the cover of People magazine and in this much-discussed film. He also claimed that Holmes is involved in a new blood-testing startup founded by her partner, Billy Evans.
"I think the only reason we're talking about Elizabeth Holmes right now is that she wants us to talk about her," Shultz said.