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AI-washing is now an enforcement category. The SEC fined two firms US$400,000 for claiming AI they did not have. The FTC launched Operation AI Comply against deceptive AI claims. Gartner estimates only about 130 of the thousands of vendors selling "agentic AI" actually have it. This tool separates a real AI firm from an IT generalist who rebranded, catches the language that gives a thin vendor away, and weighs whether the team has actually built AI before.
Brought to you by Adrian Dunkley: scientist, entrepreneur, and award-winning AI Builder. Here to save you money, save you time, and reduce your risk.
Every technology wave attracts people who sell the wave rather than the capability: web shops that became "digital transformation partners", and now IT generalists who became "AI consultants" the week a chatbot went viral. Regulators have started naming the behaviour. The SEC's first AI-washing actions in March 2024 fined Delphia and Global Predictions for marketing AI that did not exist. The FTC followed in September 2024 with five enforcement actions in one sweep.
The cost of choosing wrongly is bigger than the invoice. MIT's State of AI in Business study found 95 percent of enterprise generative AI pilots delivered no measurable profit-and-loss impact, and the difference between the 5 percent and the rest was approach and partner, not model quality.
Answer honestly about one specific vendor or consultant, using only what you have actually seen from them. The score tells you whether to walk away, slow down, or proceed, names the language that should worry you, and gives you the questions to put to them next.
Delphia and Global Predictions paid US$400,000 in combined penalties for false and misleading claims about AI they were not using. The first enforcement actions of their kind.
Five enforcement actions in one sweep against deceptive AI claims, from fake "AI lawyer" services to AI-branded business opportunity schemes. "There is no AI exemption from the laws on the books."
Gartner estimates only about 130 of the thousands of vendors claiming agentic AI offer real capability, and predicts over 40 percent of agentic AI projects will be cancelled by end of 2027.
A verdict on this vendor, a scored breakdown across all five areas, a red-flag language check, an expertise checklist that separates real builders from resellers, the follow-up questions to ask, and a downloadable one-pager for whoever signs. Your name and email open it, and there is no charge.