AI wipes out a former Wall Street favourite
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While artificial intelligence (AI) is disrupting entire industries big time, it appears one company has been completely wiped out by the technology.
Chegg Inc. (NYSE: CHGG) is an American edtech company that offers homework help, book rentals, online classes, and other student services. Widely popular among students for the past two decades, Chegg has now become the first company to be wiped out by AI.
Related: Layoffs hit crypto industry twice in 2 days
In February 2021, the company's stock traded as high as $115 with a market cap of $14.7 billion. It was the COVID-19 pandemic, and the demand for online education has hit a record high, and Chegg took advantage of the opportunity to hit record financial results.
But the advent of generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini completely disrupted the edtech market. These tools offer instant answers to students, making platforms like Chegg quite redundant.
In fact, the company announced mass layoffs last year:
- 248 employees (approximately 22% of the staff) in May 2025
- 388 employees (approximately 45% of the staff) in October 2025
The second time, Chegg blamed "new realities of AI" and low Google traffic for a decline in traffic and revenue.
The company's stock is trading at $1.02 at press time, with a market cap of $114.59 million. In fact, the company's stock has struggled to stay above the $1 price threshold and has nearly avoided getting kicked off the New York Stock Exchange.
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AI lures Bitcoin miners
The threat of AI isn't limited to edtech companies. The crypto industry is also threatened by AI.
Leading Bitcoin miners Hut 8 (Nasdaq: HUT) and TeraWulf (Nasdaq: WULF) are pivoting to AI centers. Not only is running AI operations profitable, Bitcoin mining has also not remained a profitable venture.
Bitcoin mining companies have a ready infrastructure, and several of them are rapidly transforming into AI companies.
Other crypto companies are also getting transformed by AI.
Similar to Chegg, Jack Dorsey's Bitcoin-centric fintech company Block Inc. (Nasdaq: XYZ) laid off 40% of its staff in February. Block will be significantly more valuable as a smaller, faster, AI-native company, Dorsey remarked.
