Hi Reader,

One of the world’s leading AI companies, Anthropic, just banned ChatGPT’s creator from using their platform! Why?

Because OpenAI was allegedly using Claude, a competitor’s product, to help develop their own competing AI systems.

It’s like McDonald’s secretly using Burger King’s kitchen to perfect their new burger recipe.

This wasn’t just about protecting intellectual property. It was about drawing a clear ethical line in the sand. Anthropic essentially said, “We won’t enable behavior that goes against our core principles, even if it costs us a high-paying customer.”

Think about that for a moment. In an industry obsessed with growth metrics and market dominance, a company chose principles over profits. Of course, Anthropic is well funded with Amazon pouring in $8 bn, but this essentially highlights what I had consistently repeated in our AI webinar on 31st July:

Interestingly, this incident with ChatGPT wasn’t isolated. OpenAI has faced mounting ethical controversies, including Scarlett Johansson’s accusation that they used her voice for ChatGPT-4o after she explicitly declined permission. The backlash was swift, legal implications serious, and the damage to their reputation potentially irreversible.

The two fundamentally different philosophies in business:

I've consulted 60+ startups and even had to work closely with a few "unethical" founders (not for long though). And I can broadly categorize thinking into two categories:

• The “Move Fast and Break Things” Approach: Rush to market, worry about consequences later, assume you can apologize your way out of problems. Like Ola which caused multiple accidents (and interestingly also in the AI game with Krutim)
• The “Ethics-First” Philosophy: Build ethical considerations into every decision from day one, even if it means slower growth or missing short-term opportunities (like IBM)

Why This Matters to Your Business (More Than You Think)

You may be thinking “But I’m not in AI.” Here’s the truth: every business today is becoming a technology business, and every technology decision is becoming an ethical decision. Whether you’re:

• A solopreneur deciding how to use AI tools in your client work
• A corporate professional implementing new systems across your organization
• A startup founder choosing your company’s foundational values and practices

You’re making choices that will define not just your success, but your legacy.

Your Ethical Framework: Three Critical Questions

Whether you’re making decisions about AI tools, business partnerships, or company policies, ask yourself:

1. The Grandmother Test: Would I be comfortable explaining this decision to my grandmother on national television?
2. The Long-Term Reputation Test: How will this decision look in five years when it’s scrutinized by customers, competitors, and potential partners?
3. The Scale Test: If everyone in my industry made this same decision, would the outcome be good for society?

If you can’t answer these questions confidently, it’s time to reconsider your approach.

The Competitive Advantage of Doing Right

Here’s what most business leaders miss: in a world where consumers have endless choices and information travels at light speed, ethical behavior isn’t just the right thing to do - it’s the smart thing to do.

We regularly terminate our work with founders in a couple of months (if we don't reject them before onboarding itself), since we don't want to be associated with a company that is unethical. And if you want to see it from a selfish angle - there's no reason that they won't throw you under the bus tomorrow when things go south.

And here's more proof. We announced our first one-to-one exclusive training with just 5 seats and it sold out within 9 hours. So good people don't always end last. (Next one in October)

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While people don't have an option to stay away from AI, one of our most "different" verticals is Wellness. Arpita is a certified Nutritionist from Stanford University & has been a certified Yoga instructor for 25 years now. She's launching her own "FREE" meditation & wellness offerings. So please vote, so we know if this would be of interest to you

Does "Wellness" interest you? Yes No

Until next week

- Kaushik