You are the founder and CEO of an AI startup. Starting from a cramped WeWork desk with a laptop and a dream, navigate the chaotic, hype-driven, venture-funded world of artificial intelligence and try to build AGI, get obscenely rich, or both. Move fast and train things.
AI Startup CEO is a fast-paced, text-based business simulation and tycoon game that puts you in the driver's seat of a Silicon Valley AI company. Every quarter you juggle cash, compute, talent, data, hype, and reputation while making decisions that could turn your scrappy garage startup into the next trillion-dollar AI lab, or leave you begging your VCs for a bridge round.
PICK YOUR STACK
Choose your primary focus at the start: Compute and Hardware, Foundation Models, Infrastructure and Tooling, AI Applications, Data and Pipelines, or Safety and Governance. Each layer has its own tech tree, starting capital, and competitive landscape.
CHOOSE YOUR ORIGIN
Ex-Google researcher, Stanford dropout, serial entrepreneur, open source legend, Wall Street quant, or government researcher. Your founder identity shapes your starting bonuses, your investor pitch, and the random events that hit your inbox.
RUN THE QUARTER LOOP
Review metrics and news, allocate R and D, ship products, hire and fire, set culture, raise capital, sign enterprise deals, and react to a steady stream of random events: viral launches, regulatory probes, rival acquisitions, data breaches, and the occasional AGI scare.
BUILD A REAL TEAM
Recruit engineers, researchers, salespeople, product leaders, and executives. Each hire has stats, salary expectations, and morale. Crunch mode ships features faster but burns out your best people. Offsites, bonuses, and a strong culture keep them around.
RAISE THE ROUND
Pitch seed, Series A, Series B, and mega rounds to a cast of VCs with very different personalities. Close deals, sign contracts, and watch your valuation climb or collapse based on revenue, hype, and team quality.
WIN THE ENDGAME
IPO, get acquired, achieve AGI, or go bankrupt trying. Every run is different, driven by your stack choice, origin story, and the decisions you make under pressure.
BUILD YOUR LEGACY
Every completed run shapes your founder profile. Sell your company, IPO, or achieve AGI, and carry forward permanent bonuses into your next startup. Unlock new starting scenarios as your legacy grows. Turn on Ghost Rivals to race against replays of your own past companies and see if your new strategy can beat your personal best.
FEATURES
- Deep tycoon and business simulation in the world of AI startups
- Six stack layers with full tech trees and progression
- Six founder origin stories with unique bonuses and callbacks
- Quarterly planning, fundraising, hiring, and product shipping loops
- Rival leaderboard and nemesis system that reacts to your moves
- Cinematic quarter reports, runway crisis mode, and event cards
- Founder Legacy: cross-run progression with tiered bonuses and unlockable scenarios
- Ghost Rivals: race against replays of your own past companies
- Multiple save slots to run different strategies side by side
- Goal tracker, tutorial system, and continue-game support
- iPhone and iPad support, portrait and landscape on iPad
- Play free through your first 5 in-game years, then unlock the full game with a single purchase, no subscriptions
- Watch ads to extend your free trial or recruit bonus engineers
PERFECT FOR
- Fans of tycoon games, business sims, and incremental strategy
- Tech workers, founders, and anyone who lives near the AI hype cycle
- Players who enjoy Game Dev Story, Hipster CEO, and classic management sims
- Anyone who has ever wanted to run their own AI lab without actually burning a billion dollars
Download AI Startup CEO today, pick your stack, and see how far you can push before the board, the regulators, or your own burn rate stop you.
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