[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"conference-blog-article-andrew-yang-was-offered-a-million-dollar-check-to-start-something-with-ai":3},{"id":4,"author":5,"authors":19,"title":21,"subTitle":15,"excerpt":22,"slug":23,"body":24,"categories":25,"tags":35,"featuredMedia":53,"publishedAt":61,"publishedAtGMT":62,"updatedAt":63,"updatedAtGMT":64,"type":65,"listicle":66,"disableContentGate":67,"disableListicleNumbers":67,"canonicalUrl":15,"socialThumbnail":15,"readingTime":68,"customFields":69,"additional":70,"acf":71},277018,{"id":6,"avatar":7,"firstName":8,"lastName":9,"displayName":10,"email":11,"username":12,"normalizedUsername":13,"description":14,"htmlBio":15,"twitter":16,"facebook":15,"instagram":17,"registeredAt":18},119,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2021\u002F08\u002Fupdated-headshot-scaled.jpg","Samantha","Dorisca","Samantha Dorisca","samantha.dorisca@blavity.com","SamanthaDorisca","samanthadorisca","Samantha Dorisca is a Houston-based journalist and photographer whose mission is to impact communities through the gift of storytelling using the written word or visual media. She completed her B.A at The University of Texas at Austin and is pursuing a M.A at The University of Memphis. Her work can be found on platforms such as Houstonia Magazine, Girls' Life Magazine, and Blacque Magazine. Samantha mainly reports on tech, trends, and entrepreneurship.","","https:\u002F\u002Ftwitter.com\u002Fsammiedormedia","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.instagram.com\u002Fsammiedormedia\u002F","2021-08-16T13:14:58+00:00",[20],{"id":6,"avatar":7,"firstName":8,"lastName":9,"displayName":10,"email":11,"username":12,"normalizedUsername":13,"description":14,"htmlBio":15,"twitter":16,"facebook":15,"instagram":17,"registeredAt":18},"Andrew Yang Was Offered A Million-Dollar Check To 'Start Something With AI In The Name' — 'There's Too Much Money And Not Enough Discernment Going Into That Space'","Noble Mobile Co-Founder and CEO Andrew Yang was offered a million-dollar check to \"start something with AI in the name.\"","andrew-yang-was-offered-a-million-dollar-check-to-start-something-with-ai","\u003Cp>Andrew Yang got right to the chase during the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fin-ai-era-timnit-gebru-says-not-to-accept-the-devaluing-of-black-people\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2026 AFROTECH™ Conference.\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Yang was \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">a\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">2020\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Democratic\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">presidential\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">candidate\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">and\u003C\u002Fspan> is \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">co-founder\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">and\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">CEO\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">of\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Noble\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Mobile, which \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">provides customers with\u003C\u002Fspan> unlimited data for about $40 per month. \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">The company also returns compensation to customers for\u003C\u002Fspan> unused data at the end of the month, \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">along with\u003C\u002Fspan> 5.5% interest, he\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">confirmed\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">while\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">speaking\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">on\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">a\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">panel \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">moderated\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">by\u003C\u002Fspan> AFROTECH™ Brand Manager Will \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">Lucas\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">He\u003C\u002Fspan> told the audience \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">that\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">he was\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">offering\u003C\u002Fspan> them \u003Cspan class=\"xt0psk2 x1ghz6dp x1717udv x1wty727 x4gjf66 x15eiy0f x1lziwak x15472z4 x1qlqyl8 x15bjb6t x1s688f x14rh7hd xdj266r\" data-d-component=\"text\" data-d-inline=\"\">\u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">six\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">months\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">of\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">free\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">wireless\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">service as well,\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">redeemable\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">48\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">hours\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">after\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">his\u003C\u002Fspan> \u003Cspan data-d-streaming-word=\"\">panel.\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Believe it or not, it’s still a sound business because there’s so much price gouging going on in the wireless market that if we give you a fair value, we can still build a really good, profitable enterprise, even giving it away for six months. If you can believe that,” he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cfigure id=\"attachment_277065\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-277065\" style=\"width: 750px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-277065\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 320w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 1200w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 160w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 2048w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 1568w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FVictoriaEngblom_RethinkingIncome_ATC26_Halo-0798-scaled.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption id=\"caption-attachment-277065\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: Victoria Engblom\u002F Victoria Engblom Photography for AfroTech\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\u003Cp>Noble Mobile’s \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fpressed-roots-is-expanding-to-washington-dc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">funding\u003C\u002Fa> supported the gesture. In September 2025, it announced a $10 million seed round led by Corazon Capital, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.businesswire.com\u002Fnews\u002Fhome\u002F20250916010627\u002Fen\u002FNoble-Mobile-the-Carrier-That-Pays-You-to-Use-Your-Phone-Less-Launches-With-%2410-Million-in-Funding\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to\u003C\u002Fa> Business Insider. Reflecting on the investment journey, he said VCs pushed the company to laser-focus on \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Flouis-carr-tech-creators-afrotech-conference\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AI.\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Multiple VCs said to me… ‘If you start something with AI in the name, I’ll cut you a million-dollar \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Ftristan-thompson-invested-in-anthropic-early\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">check\u003C\u002Fa> right now.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t want to start an AI company. I’m the wholesome, magical Asian man from the future who wants to give everyone money.’ I’m not trying to speed up the getting rid of their jobs thing,” he explained. “That’s kind of not my jam. But what that said to me was that there’s a hyper-investment bubble in AI, because if the professional investors were legitimately saying to me, it’s like, ‘AI in the name, I’ll cut you a check right now,’ it’s like, ‘OK, there’s too much money and not enough discernment going into that space.'”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s not to say Yang has not embraced AI at all. He acknowledged that at Noble Mobile, they have replaced various junior coding positions with AI, a trend he acknowledged many firms are replicating.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The easiest people to fire are those you have not hired yet,” he admitted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cem>Yang spoke Wednesday, Nov. 4, in the session “Rethinking Income” at the AFROTECH™ Conference, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in Houston. The conference runs through Friday, Nov. 6, and \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotechconference.com\u002F\">tickets are still available\u003C\u002Fa> for the rest of the week.\u003C\u002Fem>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Chr \u002F>\n\u003Cp>Yang said the knowledge premium is declining, adding that \u003Cspan style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">people once expected that earning degrees and credentials through college prepared them to\u003C\u002Fspan> navigate “sophisticated organizations.” Over the past several generations, the knowledge premium is what contributed to job growth, but that advantage “is getting squashed by AI,” which he believes will mean a shift to more of a survivor dynamic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Where I spent months learning case law for various corporate types of transactions, now you just ask AI, and it spits it out. … There’s going to be a little bit of survivor dynamic, a little bit of, you know, who stays on the island, who leaves the island, which isn’t great for culture or human behavior,” he said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yang’s advice is to drive growth, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fdamian-lillard-co-founded-an-insoles-company-that-reached-8m-in-annual-revenue-last-year\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">revenue,\u003C\u002Fa> and sales within the organization, as he believes those workers will be the hardest to replace.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the flip side, he noted, “The first people they look to replace are going to be in customer service or things that are cost centers, and coding.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He also still advocates for a universal basic income, a policy that would allocate funds to ensure Americans’ basic needs are met. He projects the amount should be $1,300, higher than his $1,000 suggestion when he ran for president in 2020. He credited Thomas Paine, Martin Luther King Jr., and Michael Tubbs, Stockton, CA’s \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fafrotech.com\u002Fphillip-mullin-is-the-first-child-in-louisiana-to-be-cured-of-sickle-cell\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">first\u003C\u002Fa> Black\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fblavity.com\u002Fkeisha-lance-bottoms-wins-georgia-historic-result\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> mayor,\u003C\u002Fa> who also shared this idea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I will say, in America, this country is the richest, most advanced economy in the history of the world. Our GDP right now is $84,000 a head. I want you to think about that. … And it’s going to go up with AI to like $90,000, $100,000,” he explained. “At what point do you start actually putting it in people’s hands? … I dearly hope that some of the folks who’ve gotten elected \u003Cspan style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">[during the 2026 Midterm Elections] \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">yesterday, last night\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">, \u003C\u002Fspan>\u003Cspan style=\"font-family: var(--global--font-secondary); font-size: var(--global--font-size-base);\">some of whom I know, decide to make this the case that they make when they take office next January, because there are trillions of dollars that are flowing up into the cloud, into the hands of these AI companies, being utilized in these data centers where we’re spending more on data centers right now than we’re spending on office buildings.”\u003C\u002Fspan>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He added, “If that’s not the clearest metaphor that the server farm is the new human worker, I don’t know what else you could actually put up to demonstrate that. At some point, we should just be distributing the value.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n",[26,31],{"id":27,"name":28,"slug":29,"description":15,"image":30},46,"Technology","technology",null,{"id":32,"name":33,"slug":34,"description":15,"image":30},322,"Venture Capital","vcs",[36,40,44,47,50],{"id":37,"name":38,"slug":39,"description":15,"image":15},8304,"AfroTech Conference","afrotech-conference",{"id":41,"name":42,"slug":43,"description":15,"image":15},297,"AI","ai",{"id":45,"name":46,"slug":46,"description":15,"image":15},92,"founders",{"id":48,"name":49,"slug":49,"description":15,"image":15},105,"funding",{"id":51,"name":52,"slug":52,"description":15,"image":15},97,"investing",{"url":54,"thumbnail":54,"credit":55,"title":56,"alt":15,"type":57,"width":58,"height":59,"mimeType":60},"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.afrotech.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2026\u002F11\u002FAndrew-Yang.jpg","Victoria Engblom\u002F Victoria Engblom Photography for AfroTech\n","Andrew Yang","image",160,90,"image\u002Fjpeg","2026-11-05T14:52:35-05:00","2026-11-05 19:52:35","2026-11-06T00:51:35-05:00","2026-11-06 05:51:35","default",[],false,4,{"disableConnatixPlayer":67},{"disableAd":67,"disableConnatixPlayer":67,"enabledComments":67,"headScript":30,"hidePhotoAttribution":67},{"reviewer_name":15}]