Tyler Shultz: AI Era Is 'A Great Opportunity to Deceive People'

The documentary "You Can See Everything," which chronicles the final days of disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes before her imprisonment, is sparking a national conversation as it ranks among the highest-grossing films of all time. Directed by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim, the movie deliberately avoids framing Holmes as a simple villain or victim, instead focusing on her unsettling ability to elicit pity from observers, even those who are fully aware of her criminal history.

Tyler Shultz had no need for the film to form his opinion on Holmes. As a former Theranos employee and key whistleblower, Shultz exposed the company's dangerously inaccurate blood-testing devices that were used in Walgreens locations, delivering faulty results to patients. (Theranos achieved a valuation of roughly $10 billion despite its technology never functioning correctly; the firm only utilized its own machines for a fraction of tests, outsourcing the rest to third-party equipment.)

There is little logical reason to continue discussing Holmes, whose legal case has concluded and who is currently serving a federal prison sentence; yet, her con-artistry has captivated the media for the past decade.

As Shultz noted in an interview with The San Francisco Standard, "the only reason we’re talking about Elizabeth Holmes right now is because she wants us to be talking about Elizabeth Holmes right now."

However, the Theranos cautionary tale takes on renewed relevance as we enter the peak of the AI era, where unprofitable companies are securing capital at valuations reaching the trillions of dollars.

"I think the days of having a thirty-minute coffee with someone and sending them $100,000 should be over. Elizabeth took that model and scaled it to $100 million," Shultz told the SF Standard.

His grandfather, former U.S. Secretary of State and Treasury George Shultz, was a notable investor and board member of Theranos.

"I believe that what [Holmes] did was raise the biggest angel round of funding of all time, but even at the smaller levels, I think investors need to recognize that when they put that type of money in someone’s hands, they are giving them tremendous power," he added.

Theranos' funding often relied on individual investors, such as the DeVos and Walton families, rather than venture capital firms. The company withheld scientific information and evidence of machine functionality from potential investors to protect trade secrets, a strategy that deterred many top Silicon Valley venture capitalists.

When Theranos' fraud was exposed, it served as a wake-up call for investors to prioritize due diligence. Yet, Shultz fears that lessons may be forgotten in the AI era.

"A huge danger with AI is that I think it is really hard to do due diligence on it," he said. "It’s really hard to tell the difference between what is something truly unique and new versus like, a ChatGPT wrapper… If you want to deceive people, I think this is a great opportunity to go deceive people."

The central question posed by "You Can See Everything" concerns why a mother of two would allow a film crew to document her final moments with her family before surrendering to serve an eleven-year prison sentence. While this premise seems inscrutable, the answer appears clear: she desires public pity, which she believes will be more advantageous for her future endeavors than hatred or mockery.

In the film, Holmes and her partner, hotel heir Billy Evans, are seen developing Haemanthus, a diagnostics company they refer to as "Theranos 2.0," which has reportedly secured approximately $20 million in funding.

"You Can See Everything" does not portray Holmes favorably, but it also glosses over the more severe crimes of Theranos, such as distributing dangerous medical misinformation to real patients or its targeted harassment of Shultz when he attempted to expose his former employer. Culturally, Holmes remains more of a punchline than a pariah.

"I have this feeling of unease about what might come next," Shultz said. "She’s certainly preparing and beginning her second act, and I don’t know exactly where it’s going to go."